BMW AG Chairman Oliver Zipse said the automaker will debut its first Neue Klasse model designed specifically for China at the Beijing Auto Show, showcasing a new fusion of German engineering and Chinese digital innovation.
Ties between the two sides are in the spotlight this week as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in China on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, his first since taking office last May. Zipse is among senior executives from around 30 leading German companies accompanying the chancellor on the trip.
"It is the most Chinese car we've ever built, tailored specifically to the needs and wishes of our Chinese customers," said Zipse in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday.
Zipse stressed that the car's innovations stem directly from BMW's deep partnerships with Chinese tech leaders.
"It features many innovations from our partnerships with leading Chinese players as, for example, battery cells come from CATL, autonomous driving stack is jointly developed with Momenta, and the large language model for the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is the result of our longstanding partnership with Alibaba," he said.
He presented these partnerships as a blueprint for the future of the global auto industry.
"These features are a perfect example of cross-border collaboration, joint pioneering spirit and mutual openness," Zipse said.
The 2026 Beijing Auto Show is scheduled to be held in Beijing from April 24 to May 3.
BMW to unveil China-tailored Neue Klasse at Beijing Auto Show
A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman on Friday lashed out at Japan's latest sharp increase in defense budget and planned revision of defense equipment transfer principles to allow the export of lethal weapons, urging the country to make a clean break from militarism.
It was reported that the Japanese parliament has enacted a record-high budget for fiscal year 2026, featuring a defense expenditure of 9.04 trillion yen (about 58 billion U.S. dollars), exceeding 9 trillion yen for the first time. Reports also indicate that the Japanese government is planning a significant revision to the implementation guidelines of its "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology," which will allow the export of lethal weapons.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, the spokesman, said in response, "Various signs have shown that the Japanese right-wing forces are stepping up efforts to push the country's security policy to shift toward a more offensive and expansionist direction. Their acts gravely violate the [1943] Cairo Declaration, the [1945] Potsdam Proclamation, the [1945] Japanese Instrument of Surrender, and other instruments with legal effect under international law, gravely go against Japan's own Constitution and existing domestic norms, and pose a serious threat to the post-war international order and regional peace and stability."
"Japanese militarism once inflicted untold suffering on the region and beyond, yet there has never been a proper reckoning with it after World War II," Zhang said.
Now, the Japanese side has completely torn off its disguise and accelerated its pace of re-militarization, which cannot but arouse strong concern and condemnation from the rest of the world, the spokesman said.
"We urge the Japanese side to stop its retrogressive moves and make a clean break from militarism. Otherwise, it will lose the trust of its Asian neighbors and the rest of the international community," he said.
China urges Japan to break away from militarism
