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SHANGHAI, May 23-- Stefan Bott was pleased with and astonished at China's efficient governance during its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and the quick business resumption in the country as the epidemic wanes. The program director with Ventilation China under Vaillant Group, a global leader of high-efficiency heating, cooling and hot-water products and solutions, returned from China to Germany during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday and worked in the German headquarters. At the time he was concerned about his ongoing projects in China, while now he has witnessed on site the group's step forward in the evolving Chinese market. Vaillant Group opened a new exhibition hall in east China's Anhui Province Tuesday and plans open another in southwest China's Sichuan Province by the end of this year, in a bid to get closer to its consumers. "I came back to Shanghai as soon as the epidemic was well controlled in China," said Bott, adding that he hopes international business travel will resume soon so that he can reunite with his family. The group's sales in China have returned to 80 percent of last year's sales in May, indicating the Chinese market's resilience amid the COVID-19 epidemic, according to Li Lintao, a sales director of Vaillant China's heating department. Li said Vaillant remained confident in its development in the Chinese market despite the epidemic, adding that as China entered the phase of regular epidemic prevention and control, the company's investment plan in China will remain unchanged this year and it will increase the number of its sales staff by 15 percent to expand its business in China's third-tier and fourth-tier cities. | 
