Steffen Kohl (second from right) uses adhesive tape to outline and explain features of different auto brands.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As for the connection between art and design, Kohl stressed, "Art inspires design and that the Chinese artists’ exquisite and delicate artistic creations are worth learning for us." He also stressed that the "mysterious" elements of Chinese architecture art impress and inspire him as well.

Ma called for a deeper and more thorough understanding of Chinese culture to be applied to autodesign at the end of the discussion.

"To take more Chinese cultural elements into consideration and to find core values of Chinese customers so that we can build a new China trend together, instead of just trying to meet the need of the market," Ma said.

The logo for this event is an artistic creation based on the Chinese characters "Gongye, Yishu, Sheji" (which means "industry, art, design" in English), which symbolizes the friendship bridge between China and Germany.