The 2017 Sino-German Automotive Lightweighting Technical Conference was held in Shenyang, Northeast China’s Liaoning province on Oct 18, Xinhua reported.

About 70 experts on automotive lightweighting and representatives from domestic and overseas businesses in the lightweighting sector gathered to discuss topics centered on the application of light metal alloys and the use of lightweighting materials in auto production, and to share the latest achievements on lightweighting research and development. The meeting also provides a platform for German businesses to seek cooperation opportunities in China.

Automotive lightweighting, which refers to reducing the weight of cars as much as possible without compromising quality or safety, has become a key part of the car manufacturing process.

Shenyang, an old auto manufacturing base, is leading the automotive lightweighting trend in China through its cooperation with world-leading institutes and companies providing lightweight solutions for automobiles, which include the German Automobile Research Institute, the German Lightweight Bureau and DELING Science and Technology Co Ltd.

An aluminum foam sandwich panel project was signed at the meeting, which will settle in the Sino-German (Shenyang) High-end Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park by the end of 2017. The project will provide lightweighting products and solutions for new energy vehicles, containers, military industrial use and building construction.

The Sino-German (Shenyang) High-end Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park, an automotive lightweighting cooperation platform for Shenyang and Germany, will take part in the Sino-German automotive lightweighting technical annual meeting to attract more auto businesses from Germany to exchange technologies and invest in Shenyang over the next three years.

The park is the home of 403 high-tech businesses in Shenyang. It is home to the intelligent manufacturing, auto manufacturing, high-end equipment, industrial services and strategic emerging industry sectors.

In the first nine months of 2017, the Sino-German (Shenyang) High-end Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park achieved gross industrial output value of 47.5 billion yuan ($7.16 billion), a year-on-year increase of 79%. It has become a new driving force of Shenyang’s economic development.