Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday stressed developing intelligent connected new energy vehicles (NEVs) and making the auto industry more high-end, smarter and greener.
Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when he inspected the 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, a ten-day show that displays 278 distinct NEV models.
He called for pursuing industrial innovation led by sci-tech innovation, furthering opening up and cooperation, and better satisfying and creating market demand.
He visited the booths of Chinese automakers such as Dongfeng, BYD, Xiaomi and Xpeng, as well as German carmaker BMW to view the exhibited car models and explore technical demonstrations.
Noting that China's intelligent connected NEVs have gained a leading position in market competition and open cooperation, Li called for efforts to maintain and develop the advantage.
He pointed out that today's automobiles are vastly different from those of the past, and they are no longer merely transportation vehicles.
Describing intelligent connected NEVs as "large terminal units" integrating multiple technologies such as machinery, electronics, computing, sensing, audiovisual, and energy storage, Li said that they have become the main direction for the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry.
It is hoped that automakers will redouble their efforts to achieve breakthroughs in some core technologies in key fields, strengthen forward-looking plans for technological research and development, and improve and upgrade the quality of the automotive industry, with innovation as the driving force, demand as the orientation, and quality as the foundation, said the premier.
He stressed that China will work towards building a unified national market, expand high-level opening up, treat domestic and foreign-funded enterprises on an equal basis, and promote more extensive exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign automobile manufacturers, so as to achieve common development and mutual benefit.
As China is carrying out a new round of large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in programs for consumer goods, Li urged efforts to give better play to the automotive industry's role in expanding investment and promoting consumption, and unleash the consumption potential of automobiles and other bulk commodities to a greater extent.
Chinese premier stresses developing intelligent connected NEVs
