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From joint ventures to joint innovation: Why global autos look to China_我的网站

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A | 中国小康网讯记者张玉荣实习记者郑佩瑜 4月19日上午，三亚市“8590”青年干部读书班（第二期）组织50名学员来到育才生态区榴莲种植基地参观调研。活动现场　　一下车，大家三五成群地围住育才生态区榴莲种植基地工作人员频频发问。在基地小广场上，瞬间形成了几个小方队，一问一答，热闹非凡。

B |

Newly produced vehicles fill a parking lot at a SAIC-GM industrial park in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province on July 10, 2022. Photo: VCG
Global automakers are forging deeper and longer-term ties with China, as the country's role evolves beyond a key market into an increasingly important hub for automotive research and development (R&D) and innovation.
SAIC Motor and General Motors (GM) signed an agreement on Wednesday to extend their joint venture partnership by 20 years to 2047. A month earlier, Honda Motor and GAC Group signed a strategic agreement to renew their joint venture (JV) partnership in GAC Honda, extending their cooperation to 2038 while keeping the existing equity structure unchanged.
The renewed commitments to China by global auto giants signal more than confidence in the long-term potential of the Chinese market. It reflects China's evolving role in the global auto industry, from a manufacturing base and sales market to an increasingly important source of innovation and technologies that shapes the future of mobility, Peng Bo, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Behind this shift is the rapid rise of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and vehicle intelligence, as global competition increasingly centers on batteries, electric powertrains, intelligent driving, automation, software ecosystems and artificial intelligence (AI), Peng said.
From market to innovation
Chinese automakers have accelerated their expansion into global markets. According to the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China exported 5.096 million vehicles in the first half of the year, up 65.3 percent year-on-year, including 2.355 million NEVs, up 120 percent. In just a few decades, China's auto industry has evolved from learning from and introducing advanced foreign technologies into a major global force in automobile production, exports and innovation.
Such a picture would have been almost unimaginable several decades ago. At the time, China's auto industry was still in its early stages and lagged considerably behind global leaders.
In the 1980s, China began integrating into the global auto industry through the establishment of joint ventures. In 1984, Beijing Jeep, China's first Sino-foreign joint venture automaker, began operations, while Chinese and German partners signed the agreement for Shanghai Volkswagen. More global automakers from countries such as Germany, the US, Japan and France followed, bringing capital, technology, equipment and management expertise that helped accelerate China's auto industry development.
From annual auto production and sales of just over 1 million units in the mid-1990s, China saw the corresponding figures surpass 30 million units in 2025, ranking first globally for the 17th consecutive year. Auto exports also surged from just several thousand units to a record 7.098 million in 2025.
These figures illustrate the profound transformation of China's auto industry, which has evolved from a latecomer learning from global peers to a major manufacturing powerhouse and increasingly a source of innovation for the global auto industry, experts said.
Chinese experts attributed China's auto rise to its increasingly strong innovation capabilities. Sun Xiaohong, former secretary-general of the automotive branch of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, told the Global Times on Sunday that the close integration of R&D, manufacturing and market application has enabled new technologies to move rapidly from laboratories to mass production, while intense market competition has further accelerated innovation and product iteration.
Latest figures tell the story. China has led the world in automobile patent publications over the past decade, far ahead of the US, Japan and European countries. Patent publications in the NEV sector increased from more than 50,000 in 2016 to over 110,000 in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 17.1 percent. Intelligent connected vehicle patent publications rose from 44,000 to 93,000 over the same period, averaging annual growth of 11.6 percent.
In addition to the R&D capabilities, China's complete and highly efficient supply chain strengthens its industrial edge. The International Energy Agency estimates that battery electric car production costs are over 30 percent lower in China than in advanced economies, mainly attributed to lower battery cost and supply chain.
China's technology company Xiaomi only launched its first EV in 2024, but has quickly emerged as a major player in China's NEV market. Its strategy connects cars with smartphones, apps and smart home devices is creating a more integrated ecosystem. At Xiaomi's EV factory on the outskirts of Beijing, a new car rolls off the production line every 76 seconds on average.
Chinese automaker NIO's Hefei factory is known for its highly intelligent and automated manufacturing, using more than 700 robots and achieving an overall automation rate of 97.5 percent.
BYD's EVs can add 20 kilometers of range in just 10 seconds of charging and up to 400 kilometers in five minutes.
"These examples reflect a broader shift in China's auto industry, where strengths in advanced manufacturing, supply chains, software, AI and rapid technology commercialization are increasingly translating into a competitive edge," said Sun.
Cooperation not competition
The rapid transformation of China's auto industry has put growing pressure on some global auto giants. Honda CEO and President Toshihiro Mibe reportedly said after visiting an auto supplier factory in Shanghai, "We have no chance against this," Nikkei Asia reports.
Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, told Chinese media that "In the world's most dynamic automotive market, you have to be here, and we're doubling down on China," People's Daily reported.
"Many major global automakers remain constrained by their long-standing reliance on traditional gasoline vehicles... Although they are pushing ahead with electrification, established technology systems, production networks and traditional development models have slowed," Jia Xinguang, an auto industry analyst, told the Global Times.
By contrast, China's auto industry has made a broad shift toward new technologies, building strengths across the industrial chain and establishing a mature and increasingly self-reliant core technology system, Jia said.
Against this backdrop, foreign automakers' approach to cooperation with China is changing.
Toyota's evolving China strategy provides a telling example. At the 2026 Beijing auto show, Toyota unveiled its "with China, for China" localization strategy, giving Chinese teams a greater role in management, R&D and product development, the Global Times learned from the Japanese company.
Toyota has expanded its China chief engineer team from four to seven, covering gasoline, hybrid and EVs across different segments. It is also empowering local management and deepening co-creation with Chinese partners to make development faster, according to the company.
A similar shift can be seen at Tesla, whose Shanghai Gigafactory is not only a major global production base, but also a key part of its global supply chain and product development. In the first half of 2026, the factory delivered nearly 468,000 vehicles, up 28.4 percent year-on-year. The Model Y L, led by Tesla's China team in design and development and manufactured in China, is also being rolled out in markets including the US, UAE, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Australia, according to a press release that the company shared with the Global Times on Friday.
Foreign auto parts suppliers are also stepping up innovation in China. Bosch plans to invest more than 2.5 billion euros in AI development by the end of 2027, with much of its automotive-related AI work focused on China and Europe, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Amid mounting challenges, China-foreign auto joint ventures are taking a long-term approach and actively reshaping their product strategies, R&D models and cooperation frameworks, Xinhua reported, citing Bi Wenquan, an executive vice president of FAW Toyota Motor Co.
These developments point to a broader shift: China's role for global automakers is expanding from "Made in China" to "R&D in China" and "innovation in China," making win-win cooperation increasingly important, said Sun.
For global automakers seeking to stay competitive in the next wave of industry transformation, turning competition into greater opportunities for cooperation with Chinese companies is increasingly becoming an "imperative" rather than an "option," said Sun.
As John Roth, GM senior vice president and president of GM China, said the renewed partnership "reflects the shared confidence of GM and SAIC in SAIC-GM and its long-term growth potential."
"It is not only about continuing what we have built together. More importantly, it is about building a more competitive, resilient, and sustainable business for the future," Roth said.
。山间小路上，曾经到访过的学员同其他学员分享着考察经验。不一会，大家来到基地水肥一体化智能灌溉系统管理设备点。“榴莲树喜湿怕涝。能否成活关键在于精准灌溉。”基地工作人员介绍说，他们对多个榴莲品种适应区域的光照、温度、湿度等气候因素开展了数字化比对研究，找出各自的优劣势，以便更好地破解三亚榴莲种植的短板。“基地安装了28套土壤墒情监测仪，根据数据反馈情况，按照榴莲树生长环境设定用水量并通过智能灌溉机实现精准灌溉。

C | ”　　基地工作人员一边介绍，一边带领大家来到一处仪器站。“目前，基地安装了虫情测报仪、环境检测气象站等，采集基地环境数据，再通过数据指挥中心实现数字化、智能化种植。”“利用现代光、电、数控等技术，实现害虫诱捕、虫体远红外自动处理，并实时将虫害情况上传云平台对害虫种类、数量、趋势进行分析，若分析结果异常会实时报警通知，实现虫情变化的监测及预防。

D | ”在1台虫情测报仪前，几名学员仔细研究，探讨基地数字化、智能化防治虫情的新技术。　　太阳能振频杀虫灯、环境监测气象站、土壤墒情监测站、太阳能虫情测报仪、智能灌溉主机及水位监测、孢子捕捉仪……榴莲种植各种“保植”大数据，不断在学员们眼前呈现。　　在参观调研中，学员们对“新质生产力赋能热带特色高效农业发展”的概念逐渐明晰。“每一株茂盛的榴莲树，每一个饱满的果实，都似乎在诉说着现代农业与科技的融合故事。”读书班学员陈奇益表示，新质生产力如何改变和重塑热带特色高效农业，三亚榴莲是一个典范实践。　　“育才生态区榴莲基地为我们打开了一个全新的视野。无论是精准施肥、智能灌溉，还是病虫害防治，都体现出一种前所未有的精准和高效。与此同时，智能化管理手段的应用，也使得榴莲的生长过程得到了全程监控和调度，确保了产量和品质的双重提升。”陈奇益表示，新质生产力的注入将推动农业向数字化、智能化、绿色化方向发展，形成独特的农业王牌力量。