“Welcome to the German Enterprise Centre” proclaimed a sign by the entrance to the sustainably built, modern office building managed by the German Centre Shanghai for the Sino-German Ecopark Qingdao. More than 200 guests from the German and Chinese business community as well as Chinese local, provincial and national authorities and the German embassy in Beijing celebrated the official opening of the GEC Qingdao today. The GEC Qingdao will be managed by the German Centre Shanghai for the next five years.
“I plan to make this an international, open office building, constantly adapting to the needs of my tenants here in Qingdao”, says Kerstin Kaehler, who will manage the project. The 43 year old German national has been living and working in China for 18 years for companies as diverse as BMW, Wölco and the German Consulate in Guangzhou. She worked directly for the German Centre Shanghai since 2007 and expects to draw strongly on her experience gained there when building the GEC Qingdao. “The Sino-German Ecopark offers a promising environment for various industries and we are proud to be housed in one of their landmark projects and being able to help develop the park’s attractiveness for foreign companies even further”, states Kaehler. The German Enterprise Centre offers 9,200sqm (net) lettable office space as well as conference rooms for meetings, trainings and other events for tenants and external customers alike. The building owner, SGU Group from Qingdao, wants to add a German flavor to the Ecopark in order to further strengthen the Sino-German economic relations in Qingdao.
The GEC Qingdao office building has been awarded with a DGNB gold level certificate as well as being Green Label Three Star certified for using environmentally friendly materials and ways of construction. Standards that ensure building materials are emission free or at the lowest possible levels will help to ensure tenant companies feel comfortable in their new offices. Two direct bus lines connect the GEC Qingdao with the center of Huangdao district, Qingdao’s new development zone, and a small café and convenience store have set up shop nearby. Further service providers will follow, not least by and for the tenants of the German Enterprise Centre Qingdao.