Noteworthy developments in auto sector reviewed at forum

The 2023 China Auto Forum was held in Jiading District on July 6-7, with officials and industry experts and leaders making themed speeches and holding panel discussions on topics including “Chinese auto enterprises going abroad” and “high-level opening up.”

Credit: Li Huacheng

Luo Junjie, executive vice president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, told the forum that China exported over 3 million vehicles last year, a historic breakthrough by the country. Between January and May, some 1.758 million vehicles were exported, an increase of 81.5 percent year on year. Among them, new-energy vehicles accounted for 457,000 units, a surge of 160 percent year on year, suggesting ever-increasing quality and competitiveness of China-made automobiles.

"We estimate that China's automobile exports will reach 4 million units this year and the rapid growth momentum will be maintained for the next 10 years," said Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

"In recent years, the competitiveness of China-made automobiles has greatly improved. Together with our industry-leading strength in the NEV segment, we are seeing growing popularity of Chinese automobile products in the global market.”

Notably, Jiading is taking full advantage of its two city-level industrial parks, the Jiading New Energy Vehicle & Key Parts Industrial Base and the Jiading Hydrogen Port, with the latter being positioned to become a top-notch hydrogen energy player in Shanghai, as well as a leader in the entire Yangtze River Delta region.

Apart from the construction of industrial parks, which also include the Shanghai Auto Innovation Park, the suburban district began construction last year on the Shanghai Smart Vehicle Software Park and Shanghai Automotive Chip Valley.

These further promote the development of two key industries in Jiading, namely the "new four modernizations” of auto industry (electrification, IoT, intellectualization and sharing) and integrated circuits.

Jiading will continue to focus on the integrated development of complete vehicles as well as auto parts. It will leverage its existing strengths such as ample industry resources, preferential industry policies and high-quality industry services to expand further in new-energy vehicles, the "new four modernizations" and smart manufacturing industries.