China is no longer just a sales destination but a hub for innovation and global exports, said Nissan Motor's global CEO Ivan Espinosa, as the 2026 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, also known as Auto China 2026, opened Friday.
With the theme of "Future of Intelligence," this year's event is scheduled to run until May 3.
At the auto show, Espinosa outlined why Nissan views China as central to its global strategy. He emphasized both the market's scale and its technological ecosystem, noting that the country is not only stabilizing sales but also shaping innovations that can be exported worldwide.
"China is a strategic place for us for two reasons. The first reason is the size that it represents in total Nissan's business. We want to continue performing well in this market. It's a market that we have managed now to recover stability on, and our sales are starting to recover. This is one of the purposes of China. The second is more strategic and it has to do with all the technology and the ecosystem that exists here. We will use China to leverage our global competitiveness, bringing some of the technologies that we are learning and discovering in China to the rest of the world," Espinosa said.
Despite several years of declining sales, the CEO said Nissan's renewed focus on products designed specifically for Chinese customers has begun to pay off, pointing to the launch of the all-new N7 electric sedan as a turning point.
"It's a very intense market, but we discovered that when we develop a product centered around the customer, utilizing our decades' expertise on product planning and engineering products in Japan, when we put the customer at the center in China, we can still do very strong sales. It started with the N7 last year. It's a product that was engineered, developed and designed in China for the Chinese customers. And since that moment our sales have recovered. Last year, second half, our sales grew 4.5 percent year over year. We grew the first quarter of this year, we grew around 7 percent. We added new products and we will continue adding new products engineered for the Chinese customer. And we can see that our brand is still very relevant in China. So that's why we continue investing both for the Chinese customer, but also to leverage these technologies that exist in China to export to the rest of the world," he said.
When asked about potential changes in design ownership and the possibility of new strategic investors, Espinosa stressed that Nissan remains open to partnerships, while stressing that any deal must safeguard the company's brand, shareholders and long-term sustainability.
"We're open to partners, and as I've said many times, we're open to listening and try to analyze potential opportunities, but the most important things are one to add value to Nissan shareholders to Nissan as a brand, protect the brand, and also protect the sustainability of Nissan around the world. So these are the main factors to take into consideration," he said.
This year's auto show has brought together leading automakers, technology companies and supply chain manufacturers from 21 countries and regions worldwide.
Fully utilizing all exhibition spaces at both the China International Exhibition Center (Shunyi Hall) and the Capital International Exhibition Center of China, Auto China 2026 has a record-breaking total exhibition area of 380,000 square meters, making it the world's largest auto show by exhibition area.
A total of 1,451 vehicles, including 181 debut models and 71 concept cars, are being showcased at the ongoing event.
Nissan CEO sees China as hub for innovation, global exports
