Main forum of the 2025 Automotive New Quality Productive Force Development Forum. (Photo/Xinhua)
Chongqing - The 2025 Automotive New Quality Productive Force Development Forum, held in Chongqing from July 30 to 31, brought together policymakers, scholars, and industry leaders to discuss how technological innovation can boost China’s auto sector, with a focus on areas needing improvement in the global value chain.
Su Bo, Vice Chair of the Economic Committee of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, noted that although China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) sector already holds a global lead in technology and supply chains, its edge is not guaranteed.
He stressed the need to focus on overcoming critical weaknesses in automotive-grade chips, high-safety solid-state batteries, and in-vehicle operating systems, while investing ahead of the curve in frontier domains like cloud integration and intelligent mobility.
Wu Jian from GAC Group outlined the company’s R&D and then emphasized the role of embedded hardware in enabling software-defined vehicles. Zhang Xinghai, Chairman of Seres Group, introduced the firm’s 190-point “scenario-defined safety” system, arguing that “safety is the highest luxury.” Changhe Automobile’s Chairman Xiang Xingchu also stressed strategic focus, advising companies to “do what they’re best at.”
Developing a new, high-quality productive force also depends on a resilient industrial ecosystem. Su emphasized the role of leading enterprises like Changan and Seres in cultivating ecosystems where large, medium, and small firms can co-exist and co-evolve.
Peng Huagang, President of the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society, noted that under international rules like the EU Battery Regulation, ESG is no longer just moral advocacy.
He highlighted key challenges facing the auto industry, including unclear carbon accounting across value chains, systemic vulnerabilities from risk transfer, and high implementation costs due to fragmented ESG management. To tackle these issues, he recommended the new China Supplier ESG Rating Platform, launched by over 110 leading companies.
At the forum, Chen Wenling, former Chief Economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, highlighted China’s strengths, including its talent pool and digital infrastructure, while warning against low-end price competition. She stressed the need to focus on quality and global resilience instead of a race to the bottom.
Deng Chenghao, CEO of Deepal, revealed that the company has expanded to 66 countries and regions, aiming for nearly 10,000 monthly overseas sales by Q4. Xiang called for a national auto globalization strategy and increased government support for industry coordination.
Liu Anmin, General Manager of the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, presented a report highlighting China’s top global ranking in development environment and key NEV segments like batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, but noted gaps in innovation, systems, and social adaptation.
The forum also introduced several initiatives to foster a collaborative and forward-looking ecosystem.
These include a strategic partnership between the China Economic Information Service and the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute to create a national automotive data platform, establishing an industry public opinion governance office, and forming a joint standards committee for vehicle testing and certification.