A world-leading intelligent manufacturing company unveiled its regional headquarters in Shanghai’s Baoshan District today, furthering the city’s ambition to become a global scientific innovation center. The German ASYS Group, which specializes in automatic manufacturing in the electronic, solar and life science industries, unveiled its China headquarters and innovation center in Baoshan's Gaojing Town. The new center is located in Innovation Galaxy, a creative park renovated from a historical import and export warehouse on Yixian Road. It will become the biggest innovation and research & development center outside ASYS Group's German headquarters, as well as an exhibition center for its smart solutions. The company will build its manufacturing and assembly base in Baoshan in the near future to serve the Asian market. “The high innovation spirit and speed in China will enable us to merge our Germany technical competence and base development with Chinese innovation speed and agility to drive our future smart factory development,” said Juergen Ries, chief executive officer of ASYS Group. Ries said the company has high expectations in the fields of software and artificial intelligence during its development in China. Joan Yu, general manager of ASYS China, said it aims to provide suitable products, high technologies and customized solutions for Chinese clients. A number of cutting-edge ASYS printing machines are displayed in the innovation center, including Serio 8000, which can manufacture the main circuit board of 5G servers as well as other machines for smart phone chips and solar energy cells. Yu said Baoshan’s blueprint to become the linchpin in turning Shanghai into a scientific innovation center attracted the company here. The Baoshan government has provided one-stop services and green channels to help the company set up its new headquarters, said Su Ping, deputy director of Baoshan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the district helped accelerate visa approvals for German officials and the company’s applications for business licenses, taxation and public rental houses, Su said. “It's a milestone for ASYS’s development in China and Baoshan’s scientific innovation development,” said Su. ASYS was founded in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1992, serving as the spearhead for the German government’s Industry 4.0 initiative. With more than 80,000 machines around the world, ASYS manufactures about 40 percent of the cameras produced in Europe for autonomous driving cars. COVID-19 test units produced by the two largest life science companies in Europe come from ASYS production lines. ASYS technology also plays a role in European fuel-cell manufacturing projects. “With operations in more than 40 countries around the world, we've always had the ambition and strategy to serve our customers wherever they are,” said Ries. “Our operations in China will be a key element in this strategy." The innovation park was once the China Export Jiangwan Warehouse. Built in 1950 as the largest warehouse site in eastern Asia, it served as the core hub of China’s export and import businesses. The site began to transform in 2005 in response to rapid urban development in the surrounding area. Yixian Elevated Road and Metro Line 3 were built near the site along with many residential communities, making it unsuitable to operate as an industrial warehouse.