Chongqing and Taiwan Forge Closer Ties in Smart EV Push

Chongqing- "Chongqing is most suitable as a complex testbed for validating advanced driver-assistance and connected-vehicle functions," said Chen Yea-ping, Senior Vice President of Inventec Group, as the 2025 Cross-Strait Information and Communication Cooperation Development Seminar opened in the city on September 16.

The seminar was part of the events of Chongqing-Taiwan Week, held annually. It was inaugurated in 2009 and co-hosted by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the Chongqing Municipal Government. The event features activities such as business project signings, cultural exchanges, grassroots interactions, and youth engagement, aiming to leverage Chongqing’s regional and policy advantages to promote cross-strait industrial cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Chen pointed to Chongqing's mountainous terrain, multilayer bridges, and challenging on- and off-ramp traffic, which give the city unique advantages for testing intelligently connected vehicles. He also highlighted Inventec's manufacturing presence in Chongqing since 2009 and said the company's expertise in servers and high-compute systems aligns with emerging centralized vehicle-computing architectures.

Liu Lihua, Convener of the Cross-Strait CEO Summit Information Industry Cooperation Promotion Group, Chinese Mainland, emphasized strong complementarities between the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan in the NEV sector. He proposed joint R&D centers targeting AI chips, autonomous-driving algorithms, automotive-grade semiconductors, and next-generation power batteries. He also encouraged Taiwan-funded enterprises to participate in test roads and pilot applications on the mainland. He called for cooperation in smart-city integration, high-precision mapping, and cross-border data compliance.

According to Liu, China's NEV fleet reached 31.4 million by 2024, while NEV exports totaled 1.308 million units in January-July 2025, an 84.6% year-on-year increase. He noted that assisted-driving functions are now installed in nearly 80% of NEVs, signaling a market-led phase of growth.

Chen added that Taiwan's research institutions, talent, and ICT supply chains support innovation in smart driving and vehicle connectivity. Many Taiwan-based automotive-electronics companies already work long-term with global carmakers and are known for their flexibility and rapid response to demand changes.

Du Zijun, Convener of the Cross-Strait CEO Summit Energy and Environmental Protection Industry Cooperation Promotion Group, Taiwan, said the most effective model is "two-way empowerment and common growth." He described Chongqing as uniquely positioned with a full industrial chain- from upstream lithium resources and battery materials to midstream chip design and vehicle assembly, as well as downstream charging services and vehicle-network operations.

Du said Taiwan companies are being supported in integrating their technologies into Chongqing's supply chains and accelerating autonomous-driving commercialization through vehicle-road-cloud pilots, a model that connects cars with infrastructure and cloud systems. He noted that in April, more than 50 Taiwan enterprises visited Chongqing to meet Changan and SERES, focusing on cooperation in chip computing power, low-latency cloud tools, battery thermal management, and multimodal smart cockpits.

The seminar was part of the 17th Chongqing-Taiwan Week, a platform for economic and cultural exchanges. Zhang Ping, Vice Chairman of the Cross-Strait CEO Summit Chinese Mainland, said that from Jan. to Aug. 2025, cross-strait trade reached $201.9 billion, up 8.9% year on year. At the opening ceremony, eight projects were signed between Taiwan and Chongqing, with a total investment of 3.285 billion yuan, covering healthcare, entrepreneurship services, and smart technology.

Official figures show that by June, Chongqing had approved 2,299 Taiwan-funded firms, with contracted investment of $32.38 billion and actual utilized capital of $8.06 billion. From January to July, Chongqing-Taiwan trade reached 39.54 billion yuan, up 35% year on year.