In China, we opened our first automotive service station in 1926 and now operate over 160 service stations throughout the country.

The strong relationship between Bosch and China dates back to the turn of the century, with business contacts recorded as early as 1909 - just 23 years after Robert Bosch opened his first workshop in Germany. In 1926, we established our first automotive service station in Shanghai and have offered high quality service and auto parts to the Chinese automotive market ever since. 

Since we reentered the China market in the mid-1980's, we have developed into a leading international entity whose total investment amounts to US$ 600 million and features 2-digit growth rate annually. Our far-reaching commitment to the local community, coupled with the efforts of our highly motivated 9,000 employees have enabled us to design tailor-made solutions for our customers. Bosch China has become one of the most important and dynamic development sectors of Bosch group. 

Living by our motto BeQIK, we have been forging fruitful and successful business partnerships on the Chinese market. By means of investment, transfer of knowledge, commitment to customers and development of tomorrow's industry leader, we aspire to further integrate Chinese's economy and social endeavors and to play an increasingly important role in this momentous period of China's history.

From the company's first days, quality has been the keystone to Bosch's success. We thrive to provide customers with products of the highest quality. Our twelve quality principle statements constitute a work code for our employees worldwide. This also applies to the high-quality service carried out on our behalf by our trading partners and sales service organization. 

On January 1st, 2002, the Bosch Group was employing 221,000 people worldwide, with 54% working outside Germany. We place great importance on international exchange of employees, because we believe it stimulates cooperation and expertise transfers. The Bosch CIP (Continuous Improvement Process) program allows each employee to contribute his or her experience and know-how to improve the group's working practices and manufacturing processes. It is our people - their dedication, their commitment and their ideas - that drive us forward. 

Bosch owes its success as a cutting-edge technology supplier to decades of intensive research and development. Today, the Bosch Group allocates 7% of its consolidated revenue to research and development. In 2001, Bosch's research and development spending amounted to 2.3 billion euro, most of it allocated to the automotive technology.