Marieke Bossek
General Manager, German Centre Taicang · incoming CEO, German Centre Shanghai
Biography
Marieke Bossek first came to China in 2007 as an exchange student, worked the Shanghai Expo in 2010, and never really left, that is a 19-year journey now. She is General Manager of the German Centre in Taicang and is moving into the role of CEO at the German Centre in Shanghai, which together host more than 130 tenant companies, mostly German SMEs trying to build something in China.
So she is not running one business, she is running the landing pad for hundreds of them. She sees which European companies adapt and which ones arrive assuming the reputation they earned at home will carry them here.
She is also proof of her own advice. She learned the language, she stayed through the hard parts, and she treats speaking Chinese as a genuine advantage rather than a nice-to-have.
Areas of expertise
- German SMEs in China
- Market entry & ecosystems
- China go-to-market
- WeChat & Xiaohongshu marketing
- Cross-cultural business
- Chinese language in business
What the conversation covered
We talked about the shift she has watched up close, European products that used to sell themselves and now have to be marketed, localized and fought for. She explained China speed from the inside, and what German companies gain when they finally run their marketing on WeChat and Xiaohongshu instead of the channels they know from home.
We also got into the idea of the China plant quietly becoming the group's biggest money-maker, and why she thinks learning Chinese is close to a superpower for anyone serious about building here.