Economic Watch: German carmakers eye increased, deeper NEV cooperation with China

HAIKOU, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- German carmakers have expressed optimism about cooperation with China in the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry when speaking at the 2024 World New Energy Vehicle Congress which concluded Sunday in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, with China's NEV market continuing to boom.

Jochen Goller, a member of the board of management of BMW AG, credited the success of China's NEV market to supportive government policies, suitable regulations and technological innovations.

Goller emphasized BMW's commitment to keeping the market open and expressed hopes of having more Chinese battery manufacturers in Europe.

Oliver Blume, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen AG, noted that this year marks a significant milestone as Volkswagen celebrates 40 years in the Chinese market.

"Over the past four decades, we have taken great pride from having become an integral part of Chinese life and in shaping the development of the Chinese automotive industry," Blume said, while highlighting that the foundation of Volkswagen's success lies in its strong partnerships -- particularly with Chinese EV companies like SAIC and FAW.

Blume added that China has emerged as "the epicenter of the automotive industry's future," while Volkswagen is committed to being an even more integral part of the local industry ecosystem.

"We have significantly enhanced our local research and development capacities and concluded partnerships with local original equipment manufacturers and technology leaders in the fields of software, autonomous driving and batteries," he explained.

In April, Volkswagen announced an investment of 2.5 billion euros (about 2.79 billion U.S. dollars) in expanding its production and innovation hub in the city of Hefei in east China -- to increase its pace of innovation in the country.

The company also committed to accelerating the production of two Volkswagen-brand smart electric vehicles, which are currently under joint development with Chinese manufacturer Xpeng.

China's production and sales of NEVs continued to maintain fast growth, with the NEV market share steadily increasing in the domestic market.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that in the first eight months of 2024, NEV production had reached about 7.01 million units, rising 29 percent year on year, while sales during this period stood at around 7.04 million units -- growing by 30.9 percent from a year earlier.

Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said that expanding bilateral trade cooperation and investment, along with increasingly close industrial and supply chain collaboration between the Chinese and German automotive industries, have become vital for the high-quality development of the global automotive sector.

"In the future, we hope that the automotive industries of China and Germany will embrace development and reform, jointly promoting the further advancement of the NEV industry to contribute to global low-carbon transformation and sustainable development," Wan added. ■