Mankind has been exchanging knowledge, experiences and world views since time immemorial. This also takes place across national and cultural borders and can have a significant impact on socio-economic development processes. This article sheds light on the driving forces behind such transfers and the scope in which such activities can unfold. It does so using the example of Duisburg’s efforts to utilize (economic and technical) impulses from China to strengthen the local economy. It becomes clear that a successful transfer of knowledge and concepts can only succeed if several conditions are met simultaneously: – entrepreneurial personalities must be willing to commit themselves accordingly; – concepts for transfer must have a minimum degree of fit with the local framework conditions; – there must be a socio-political consensus that views the exchange with the foreign system positively. In the relationship between Duisburg and China, these factors have fluctuated greatly over the past decades and thus determined the intensity of the exchange. A few years ago, Duisburg wanted to position itself as Germany’s “China city”, but at present the scope for cross-border knowledge transfer seems to have shrunk to a minimum again.