From Wednesday to Thursday, a delegation of business leaders from Germany visited Southwest China's Chongqing to deepen their understanding of the local market and explore new collaboration opportunities.

The delegation comprised over 20 leaders from sectors such as food and agricultural product processing, trade and retail, business consulting, and publishing, among others.

On Wednesday, the CEOs toured the Chongqing branch of CRIntermodal and the International Logistics Hub in Inland China Exhibition Center in Shapingba district, where they gained firsthand insights into the operational processes of the China-Europe Railway Express.

The railway route reaches as far as Duisburg, Germany, a partner city of Chongqing. Not far from there is Zurich, Switzerland, the hometown of the Swiss chocolate giant Lindt & Sprungli. The CEO of the German and Chinese branches of the company, Michal Spiller, was in attendance with the delegation.

Given that Zurich is also a partner city of Chongqing, Spiller was excited to learn more about the municipality. "It's really impressive to see how the city has developed as a center for global trade in all directions," he said.

The delegation also attended the China (Chongqing) - Germany CEO Delegation Business Matchmaking Conference held later that day, where they received a warm welcome from Zhang Yongwu, director of the Chongqing Commission of Commerce.

In addition to Chongqing, the delegation visited Shanghai and Shenzhen.

"China has a huge potential market, and it's still growing, and this has still come to the mindset of many German companies," said Thomas Bonschab, partner and managing director of TiNC International and leader of the delegation. "We picked our locations for good reasons in order to make sure we can cover different kinds of businesses. And I would like to show my group how to catch up with this and make business."

According to Chinese customs statistics, the import and export of goods between China and Germany reached 1.51 trillion yuan（ $219 billion）in 2025, marking a 5.2 percent increase year-on-year. Germany remains China's largest trading partner in Europe, and China has once again become Germany's largest trading partner after a one-year gap.