AMK launches successfully in China

Mannheim / Beijing, 5th December, 2013. On 28th November, the ‘AMK work group China’ of AMK (German: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Die Moderne Küche e.V.) hosted a German-Chinese ‘Networking Event’ for professionals in the kitchen industry during the China International Kitchen and Bathroom Appliances & Technology Ex-po (CIKB) held in Shanghai. More than 40 participants from AMK member corporations, as well as a similar number of Chinese com-pany, organisation, government and media representatives accept-ed the invitation to the event at the conference centre of the Shanghai Jumeirah Himalaya Hotel.

The ‘AMK (Beijing) Consulting Co. Ltd’, a full subsidiary of ‘AMK Die Mo-derne Küche Service GmbH’, already started their activities in China in July with the set up of a headquarters in Beijing. The organisation of the ‘Networking Event’ and of the local ‘AMK work group China’ meeting are some of the first assignments carried out by AMK-China-CEO, Hongyi Cai, who was introduced to the kitchen industry in September during vis-its to the IFA and ‘Küchenmeile A 30’ in Cologne, Germany.

The event kicked off with a ‘Get together’ held on the day before the CIKB trade fair at the shared booth of AMK and LivingKitchen, and in-cluded the viewing of the new showroom jointly designed by Bosch and Schüller, as well as the Miele-house which is located nearby in the centre of Shanghai.

The following morning at the ‘AMK work group China’ meeting, the member corporations were initially the only ones present at a meeting in which company representatives from Germany met their Chinese col-leagues for the first time. The primary focus was on getting to know each other, the presentation of the results achieved thus far and the strategic focus of the working group.
Prominent speakers at the ‘Networking Event’ in the afternoon were Jin Jiang Liu from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development for the People’s Republic of China, Dong Li Zhang (Chairman of the China National Hardware Association), Roland Gerke (CEO of BSH in China), Gerald Böse (Chairman of the Koelnmesse management) as well as Ji Shou Zhong (director of the China Housing Alliance). All speakers em-phasised the importance of professional dialogue and good, international collaboration for the distribution and further development of modern kitchen concepts. Gerald Böse also seized the opportunity to promote the LivingKitchen 2015 in Cologne.

‘Due to the support of our Chinese member corporation, we have, during the course of multiple trips to China, been able to create a formidable network over the last two years. This network is a prerequisite to achiev-ing our strategic goals with regard to the standardisation and profiling of modern kitchens in China and we have been able to introduce it to all AMK work group members for the first time. In the coming months, the members themselves will be expanding this network considerably in or-der to increase their business activities in China. We are pleased with the excellent response and the great success of this first local event,’ said AMK CEO Frank Hüther. His designated replacement, Kirk Mangels, also added, ‘The ‘AMK work group China’ is still open to all AMK mem-bers. Fortunately, there are already multiple expressions of interest from different member corporations with regard to collaboration with the work group in China. The ‘AMK work group China’ uniquely represents the potential achievements of the German kitchen industry and makes a sustainable contribution towards expanding the concept of modern built-in kitchens in China.’

To achieve this aim, AMK (Beijing) Consulting Co. Ltd. also pursues in-tensive collaboration with Chinese companies. Both Chinese and Ger-man manufacturers are set to profit from the growth in the Chinese mar-ket for individually designed kitchens, for projects as well as for consum-er banking. However, AMK membership for Chinese companies is not possible because, for legal reasons, AMK is not an association in China but a consulting company, said Mangels.

Currently, the following companies and brands are active in the ‘AMK work group China’: allmilmö, ALNO, Ballerina, Beckermann, Blanco, Bosch, Carat, Gaggenau, Hettich, Kesseböhmer, KIC, Miele, Naber, nobilia, Nolte, Schüller, SieMatic, Siemens, Warendorf und zeyko. (AMK)

AMK is the trade and service association for the entire kitchen industry. AMK is involved in technology and standardisation, marketing and PR, internationalisation as well as trade fairs. More than 125 companies be-long to AMK, all of which are well-known manufacturers of kitchen furni-ture, electric built-in appliances, sinks, accessories as well as their sup-pliers, trade cooperations and service companies. AMK is patron of the ‘Kitchen Day’, which takes place annually with live-events at numerous kitchen exhibitions in German-speaking regions. For more information, please take a look at www.amk.de and www.tag-der-kueche.de. (AMK)

Speakers at the AMK-Networking Event, held on 28th November 2013 in Shanghai along with the ‘AMK work group China' team and attending members of AMK management.
At the back, from the left: Gerhard Essig (Carat), Roland Gerke (BSH), Andreas Kress (zeyko), Dr. Elmar Stumpf (BSH), Frank Hüther (AMK), Hongyi Cai (AMK China), Matthias Keudel (nobilia), Kirk Mangels (AMK). At the front, from the left: Jin Jiang Liu (Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development), Gerald Böse (Koelnmesse), Dr. Oliver Streit (nobil-ia), Dong Li Zhang (China National Hardware Association), Ji Shou Zhong (China Housing Alliance). (Photo: AMK)

Considerable interest in German-Chinese networking: some 80 partici-pants visited the first AMK Networking Event held on 28th November 2013 in Shanghai. (Photo: AMK)