FRANKFURT, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- German "hidden champions" and Chinese companies can achieve win-win outcomes through cooperation, and can join hands to build up business ecosystems in the future, said a renowned German business leader.

"German hidden champions see Chinese companies both as rivals and as partners," and this relationship can transform both sides for the better, Hermann Simon, founder and honorary chairman of global consulting firm Simon Kucher & Partners, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Simon, also author of "Hidden Champions: Lessons from 500 of the World's Best Unknown Companies," coined the term "hidden champions" in the book to refer to those relatively small, medium, lesser-known to the public, but highly successful companies in a certain industry or area. Hidden champions are often deemed the backbone of the German economy.

Simon noted that Chinese companies have already been ahead of their German peers in such fields as artificial intelligence (AI) and railroad technology, and are increasingly investing in Germany to seize opportunities there.

Meanwhile, German companies operating in China are transforming themselves to make good use of favorable conditions in the Chinese market, for example, in such fields as mining technology, AI and autonomous driving, he said.

German and Chinese companies are cooperative partners, Simon said, noting that "this is especially true for the German hidden champions who have production sites in China and have both Chinese suppliers and customers."

"China is by now the most important market for German hidden champions," Simon said, adding that "the risk for the Germans is that by losing the Chinese market, they will lose the world."

Simon said he expects that there will be many Chinese-German business ecosystems in the future, a pattern of cooperation that he sees as "a very important path into the future."

In business ecosystems, companies worldwide cooperate closely, with a long-term orientation based on trust, Simon explained, adding that through cooperation, small- and medium-sized companies can make very complex products and systems that cannot be made on their own.

The cooperation between Germany and China has a deep foundation, Simon said, noting that "the German and Chinese cultures are similar in that they value knowledge and engineering. Both nations are extremely industrious and work hard."

He recalled his trips to China, during which he saw that some Chinese local agencies and companies were learning from the German vocational training system.

The Germans are also learning from the Chinese, for example, in AI, he said.

Simon said he expects to see more investments in both directions, as well as deeper cooperation between the two sides.

"There is a huge potential for win-win solutions," he added. Enditem

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