Auto makers worldwide have teamed up with Chinese tech companies to boost their market performance, according to industry insiders at the Beijing Auto Show.
Chinese domestic auto makers such as JAC Motors and BAIC Motor have been working with Chinese tech companies to develop smart seats and smart driving systems.
The willingness for cross-industry cooperation goes both ways as tech companies have been paying close attention to the demands and development of the auto industry.
"Some players in the communications industry have been paying close attention to the development of the auto industry. Some in the integrated circuit and semiconductor industries have also been attaching importance to the auto industry," said Xiang Xingchu, chairman of JAC Motors.
As China's new energy vehicle (NEV) and the Internet of things (IoT) technologies are in pole position globally, auto industry leaders worldwide such as Volkswagen and Toyota have started partnering with Chinese companies.
For instance, Volkswagen and Xpeng, a Chinese EV maker, co-announced their plan to develop an Electrical/Electronic Architecture ("E/E Architecture").
Under the E/E Architecture technical collaboration, Xpeng and the Volkswagen will jointly develop and integrate Xpeng's latest generation of E/E Architecture to Volkswagen's new platform specifically designed for the taste of Chinese consumers. The jointly developed E/E Architecture is expected to equip Volkswagen brand electric vehicles produced in China from 2026.
"We want to benefit also from the strong development in China in terms of new technologies. And we can't do and don't want to do everything by our own," said Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen.
"As China pushes for new quality productive forces, I believe that Chinese companies will develop more and more advanced hardware, software and AI technologies. I also see a future where Chinese tech companies work with tech giants from around the world to improve their performance in both the Chinese and global markets," said He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng.
"Many Chinese tech companies are willing to contribute to the transformation of the auto industry and they have played a leading and innovative role in this whole process. New powers in the auto industry should also leverage their advantages and work with the well-established car makers," said Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Auto industry pushes boundaries through cross-industry cooperation
The third Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit was held in Beijing on Monday, with representatives calling on the international business community to make concerted efforts to fast-track global economic recovery.
Highlighting mutual trust and cooperation, the focus of the event is "smoothing the supply chain for win-win," with more than 300 attendees from across the world, including heads of chambers of commerce, business associations and trade promotion facilities, as well as high-level representatives from Tesla, Walmart and other Fortune Global 500 companies.
As a high-level platform for interactions among business communities from different countries, the summit aims to jointly address global issues, nurture new growth points for international economic cooperation and reform the global economic governance system.
Delivering a speech at the opening ceremony, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said China will continue to work with the rest of the international community, amid all the global uncertainty, to strengthen openness and exchanges, promote free trade and stimulate growth drivers for digital and green development.
The summit was organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). Representatives from both trade and investment promotion agencies and business communities reached a series of consensus following extensive discussions.
"China is willing to share the opportunities of development with the global community. We welcome the business sectors of more and more countries to work together to build a stable global supply and industrial chain, and give full play to the further development of the green economy," said Ren Hongbin, the CCPIT chairman.
The summit also includes parallel forums focusing on smoothening supply chains, promoting exchanges between the United States and China on turning the "San Francisco Vision" into reality, and the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, among other issues.
The forum attendees spoke highly of China's contribution to the global market and its efforts to share the development opportunities with other countries.
"China is already integrated very closely into the global manufacturing supply chain. It provides a lot of inputs. And at the same time, China is also a very very big market, [as] 18 percent of the GDP, the global GDP, is China. Therefore, China has a very important role both as a part of the manufacturing chain and also as a part of the global market," said Osamu Onodera, vice chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China
"[For] Italian companies, they focus on Chinese partners to promote the digital trade of the quality of their products. So this is one of the key elements to cooperate between Italian companies and the Chinese market," said Lorenzo Riccardi, chairman of China-Italy Chamber of Commerce.
The summit launched the Beijing Initiative, calling on accelerating world economic recovery through the WTO-centered multilateral trading system and maintaining the stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains through strengthening industrial specialization and collaboration.
The initiative also proposed to advance AI exchanges and cooperation in embracing the transformative force of AI, foster green and low-carbon development, and nurture mutually-beneficial and win-win business partnerships.
Global Trade, Investment Promotion Summit 2024 held in Beijing
Global Trade, Investment Promotion Summit 2024 held in Beijing
