• Number of associates to increase from 14,000 to 18,000 by 2007
• Management Training Programs launched in China
• 170 new employees join Bosch in China every month

Bosch Group, a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, launched a new Graduate Management Training Program in China earlier this year. This marks a solid step for Bosch’s ambitious recruitment plan to increase the number of its associates from 14,000 to approximately 18,000 by 2007.

The new program is designed to build up the future management team in China. Among tens of thousands of applicants, the first group of 44 graduates from Chinese universities has been selected. Beginning this year, they will start a one year training program at Bosch’s facilities in China before they’re sent to Bosch’s facilities in Germany where they will work for two years on a variety of challenging projects.

“As a company committed to the Chinese market and the development of its local industries, Bosch pursues sustainable development in China through the localization of technology and talents,” said Peter Pang, the president of Bosch (China) Investment Ltd. “In order to build a strong local management, engineering and research teams in China, Bosch is committed to train and to develop Chinese students and professionals.”

A wide range of human resources initiatives

The Graduate Management Training Program is the newest initiative under Bosch’s International Development Program (IDP) in China. Bosch regards its 250,000 associates around the world as the most important asset of the company. It has spared no efforts to facilitate international exchange of knowledge and experience among its employees. The Management Training Programs encourage the formation of networks within the Bosch Group and the fostering of Bosch’s corporate culture which was inherited from the company’s founder Robert Bosch and which has supported the company’s success over the past 120 years. The Bosch values are “future and result focus”, “responsibility”, “initiative and determination”, “openness and trust”, “fairness”, “reliability, credibility, legality” and “cultural diversity”.

In addition to the education of graduates, IDP has, over the past years, helped to train many talented young Chinese professionals who already have two to three years of work experience. They were sent to Germany for a 2-year-program soon after they were recruited by Bosch in China. For current employees, short-term foreign assignment opportunities are widely available. Bosch Automotive Diesel Systems, one of Bosch’s business units, has sent more than 80 Chinese employees to Germany for training since it was established in Wuxi in 2004.

In addition, the Manager Development Program (MDP) is another important training activity organized by Bosch in China. The MDP aims to train junior employees with high potential to become team leaders and for team leaders to become managers, supported by the “LeaD”-training which is a complementary program aimed at improving employees’ communication, project management and leadership skills as well as their use of Bosch’s management instruments and processes.

According to a recent survey conducted by Bosch China, opportunity for advancement and development is a top of mind criteria for Chinese students. Bosch’s focus on career development has attracted many talents in China. In November 2005, Bosch launched a two-week long annual campus recruitment tour in 11 top Chinese universities, resulting in more than 34,000 applications. Students who major in automotive technology, manufacturing, industrial automation and electronics are most likely to be recruited by the company, but other majors of economical and technical studies are also welcome.

Continuous support for university educational and research programs

Bosch’s support for talent development starts before the recruitment process begins. Through the past years, Bosch has made an effort in supporting Chinese universities’ educational and research programs.

Since 1999, Bosch has partnered with several leading Chinese University in a range of activities. Bosch not only sponsored research projects, but also provided the university with a stronger tie to the industry and with an opportunity to maximize the impact of its research activities. Bosch, often offers students with internship opportunities.

“In the long term, growth in China can only succeed with highly qualified and motivated staff from within China itself,” commented Franz Fehrenbach, Chairman of the Board of Management, during his visit to China last November. “Over the next two years, we shall be hiring not less than 1,000 additional associates in our Diesel Systems division, 2,200 in Power Tools, and 600 at Bosch Rexroth. In other words, 170 associates will join our companies in China every month.”

About Bosch in China

Bosch founded its first trading office in China as early as 1909. In 1926, the first car service workshop opened in Shanghai. Today, all of the Bosch business sectors are present in China. The company operates via a holding company in Shanghai, 13 subsidiaries, six joint ventures, and six trading companies. Up to 2004, Bosch had invested roughly 550 million euros in the establishment and expansion of its Chinese activities. Between 2005 and 2007, it is planned to invest a total of some 650 million euros in China. In the past five years alone, the number of Bosch manufacturing facilities there has doubled, from 10 to 20.

In China over 14,000 Bosch employees follow Bosch’s “3S principle” – Sicher (safe), Sauber (clean), Sparsam (economical) and are committed to bringing to the Chinese customers the latest technology as well as the most reliable services to help the Chinese people improve their quality of life. Innovation applied to environmental protection has been a corporate principle of the Bosch Group since 1973.

About Bosch Group

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2004, some 242,000 associates generated sales of 40 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of some 260 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 service centers in over 130 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. 92 % of the shares of Robert Bosch GmbH are held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

For more information on Bosch, please visit www.bosch.com.cnFor further details please contact:

Bosch(China) Investment Ltd. Howard Luo Tel:021-2898-1036 Email: howard.luo@cn.bosch.com

Carl Byoir Public Relations Nelson Ren Tel：021-5407-5699 Email:nelson.ren@carlbyoir.com