A factory of Germany's largest waste management company EEW. [Photo: qianlong.com]

State-controlled Beijing Enterprises Holdings has bought Germany's largest waste management company, EEW, for 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

This is the largest ever Chinese acquisition of a German company.

The Vice Chairman of Beijing Enterprises says the deal can help China to develop waste-to-energy technology.

EEW is Germany's leading waste-to-energy firm.

It operates 18 garbage incinerators in Germany and neighboring countries.

The company turned more than 4 million tons of waste into energy last year.