"This sandwich toaster is our new product and it has the German GS mark," Zhang Renshun, general manager of Aiken Electric Appliance Co, explained the details of his product to clients.

Aiken is one of Cixi-based companies that apply for safety marks before promoting products abroad. The GS mark, a voluntary certification mark for technical equipment and a reflection that the equipment has met German safety requirements for such devices, has become a stepping stone for Cixi companies to crack the European market.

In 2017, there were more than 1,000 enterprises that reached cooperation with German counterparts in Cixi, a county-level city in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

According to statistics from local customs, Cixi's import and export volume with Germany rose from 2.876 billion yuan ($457.23 million) to 5.162 billion yuan from 2008 to 2017.

Since China's reform and opening-up, Cixi companies have been striving to keep abreast with German manufacturers through learning from their advanced technologies and managerial experience.

With the help of German technology, Mobo, a local compressor manufacturer developed the first inverter air compressor in China soon after its establishment.

German market is also the top destination for Cixi companies' globalization strategy.

Yueli Electrical Co has greatly improved its production and management since its establishment of cooperative relationship with world-class brands and retail giants of German origin. All of its exports have passed the GS certification. In 2017, the company's high-end hair driers took up 60 percent of the market shares in Germany.

Some local Cixi enterprises have caught up with and even surpassed their German counterparts. One of the first products with "Made in Zhejiang" certificate, a smart kitchen ventilator made by Fotile, a Chinese kitchenware brand, excelled beyond its German competitors in reducing noise and the odor of smoke.

Statistics indicate that Cixi reported an import and export volume of 990 million yuan with Germany in January and February this year, up 41 percent year-on-year.