China’s backbone has hardened, and behind this, the most important thing to thank is the repeated breakthroughs in the industrial system.
Some breakthroughs are visible, such as at the Zhuhai Air Show, where military products such as the J-35, Hongqi 19, and Jiutian unmanned aerial vehicles can be convincing with their hard power.
There are also some breakthroughs that are not so obvious, such as Chinese cars being favored by politicians and elites from various countries at an increasing number of world-class conferences – which means genuine recognition.
Breaking through the bandits in the mountains is easy, but breaking through the bandits in the heart is difficult. Compared to the former, the latter may be more difficult.

（1） In order to be recognized by the world, the Chinese automotive industry has had three “take-off moments”

The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference is currently being held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Before the official opening of the conference, Azerbaijani President Aliyev tasted NIO ES8, ET7, and ES6 in advance outside the venue.
These three models are designated vehicles for the VIPs at this conference, but can NIO, a brand from China, replace BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Audi from Germany, a century old automotive industry powerhouse? As a political strongman, Aliyev believes in his own judgment.

At the end of the tasting, the comfortable driving and intelligent system of Chinese electric vehicles made Aliyev give a thumbs up.

The transition from BMW in Germany last year to NIO in China this year, designated vehicles for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, is a moment that is worth commemorating for the entire automotive industry. It is not only a breakthrough for a brand, but also a leap forward for a country. From this moment on, high-end automotive brands are redefined.

If any older generation of Chinese automotive industry professionals saw this scene, they would surely be moved to tears.
After all, in order to make Chinese cars recognized by the world and achieve the final “wonderful leap”, the Chinese automotive industry has accumulated 70 years of savings.
After experiencing three takeoff moments, without exception, they all fell down.

The first “take-off moment” occurred at the beginning of the founding of the country.
In 1956, the Liberation CA10 truck, which replicated the Soviet Gis 150, was produced at FAW Changchun, ending China’s history of not being able to manufacture cars and effectively supporting the construction of New China. However, being able to produce it does not necessarily mean being good. After all, trucks can only meet a country’s basic needs for the use of cars.
And for modern countries, cars have even higher significance. Chinese people who have just emerged from a century of humiliation know that China needs cars, especially high-end cars that can represent the image of a big country and be recognized by the world.
In order to enable national leaders to ride on their own country’s produced sedans during the 1958 National Day parade, workers from FAW produced China’s first luxury sedan, the Red Flag CA72-1E, with great enthusiasm.
The “production cycle” of this car is only 33 days, but it is almost produced in a manual workshop, especially the body – it is hammered out one by one by dozens of sheet metal masters supported by Shanghai.
In fact, at that time, the vast majority of FAW workers had never even seen a sedan. In order to “produce” this car, the Ministry of Machine Building supported a Lincoln sedan, and several national leaders also contributed their own special cars. In the end, the workers had to break down a Chrysler into thousands of parts and assemble them one by one to complete this imitation.
The passion of China’s first generation of automotive industry workers supported the production of this car, but as one of the most complex industrial products, cars have their own seriousness. Due to production methods and processes, the first Red Flag CA72-1E had many problems and occasional malfunctions, and did not appear at the parade site.

After the first failed attempt, Chinese car enthusiasts realized that without an industrial foundation, it is impossible to produce a truly good car, and this gap cannot be filled by passion.
So another path was presented, can we introduce mature products?
At the beginning of the reform and opening up, China began to experiment with “market for technology” in the automotive industry, with a large number of executives from world-renowned car companies flying to China. However, most of them did not intend to truly provide technology, but only wanted the market.
After several rounds of negotiations, Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Toyota all left one after another, with only Volkswagen Germany remaining. Compared to others, Volkswagen is optimistic about China. The then chairman, Hahn, once said:
“The foundation of China’s automobile industry is really poor, but if you look at the Chinese people from a historical perspective, this nation has unpredictable energy.”
Of course, saying is saying, doing is doing. In the end, Volkswagen was also unwilling to bring the top cars, such as Audi 100 production line, which the Chinese hoped for, but chose to bring Santana, which had average sales in Europe, to China in 1985.
The German people have good reasons. First, China’s industrial foundation is weak, and it is not suitable to directly produce the most advanced products. Second, Santana sells well in the Brazilian market, which can be used for reference in the Chinese market.
The German may have considered it well, but the news that Shanghai Volkswagen can only produce Santana has triggered social emotions to some extent – since 1985, enterprises and institutions have become a fashion to import cars, hundreds of thousands of foreign cars have poured into the country through various channels, swallowing the huge vacuum formed by China’s lack of car industry.
During the “Two Sessions” in 1988, a journalist counted the number of cars in front of the Great Hall of the People, totaling 556. Among them, 495 are imported cars, 24 are Sino foreign joint ventures, and only 37 are pure domestic cars.
There is data that the foreign exchange flowing out of imported cars at that time was more than twice the total investment of China’s automobile industry in the past thirty years. China cannot afford it and does not want to waste it like this. This second attempt to introduce mature products ultimately failed.

But the third jump is already accumulating strength.
Although Santana may not be considered a luxury sedan, it is indeed a cheap, fuel-efficient, safe, and easy to manufacture car. It’s not a bad thing that the Chinese automotive industry can calm down and start from here.
Of course, it’s not easy either.
In 1987, after producing 10000 Santana vehicles, the localization rate was only 4%. The then mayor of Shanghai, Zhu Rongji, issued a death order to increase this data as soon as possible. He said that if the domestic production rate of Santana cannot reach 40%, Shanghai Volkswagen will be shut down.
The localization of components is the foundation of the automotive industry, and assembly alone is meaningless
This command has had an effect, and orders from various units across the country have also stimulated production. Finally, in 1992, the localization rate of Santana reached 80%, with an annual output exceeding 100000 vehicles. In 1998, it further exceeded 1 million vehicles. Santana has become a memory of a generation.
The success of Santana has allowed more joint venture brands to re-enter China, and has also provided the Chinese automotive industry with a real opportunity to accumulate its own technology, talent, and industrial chain. Some domestic brands have emerged in the cracks and are struggling to survive.
According to the stage plan of “learning production, marketing, technology, localization, and building the industrial chain”, China’s automobile industry is on the right path, but can Chinese people build a good car that is recognized by the world?
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China opened its arms to the world with a brand new image. Many achievements of reform and opening up were eye-catching, but a bitter fact is that China’s automobile industry has not yet taken off successfully – at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, 50 heads of state entered the national sports stadium in Audi.
Without independent innovation, there can be no independent brand. As a pursuer, one step at a time is slow, and even if one accumulates more in someone else’s framework, they will always be inferior, “someone pointed out sharply on the Iron Blood Forum at that time.

（2） The real leap requires both gratitude for the new energy revolution and recognition of the determination of enterprises

Indeed, if the competition in the automotive industry is seen as a race, it will be difficult for later pursuers to take the lead. On the one hand, others start earlier than you, and on the other hand, they are more familiar with the track and rules.
It can be said that without the new energy revolution, the Chinese automotive industry would need to continue to acquire, develop, and replicate, using a long time and huge resources to catch up one by one.
Fortunately for China, the new energy revolution has arrived, providing an opportunity to bypass complex and patent barriers in power and transmission systems, and to overtake.
For new energy technologies, China is even luckier.
Have you ever thought that the opportunity of new energy is for the whole world, why are only Chinese companies seizing it?
Behind this is the government’s environmental shaping, such as providing excessive subsidies to stimulate market demand; For example, formulating relevant policies to promote the development of the entire industry; Even the introduction of Tesla Gigafactory, for example, not only provides Chinese companies with an intuitive learning object, but also sets a benchmark for competition.
There are also subjective initiatives of enterprises:
I’ve been holding back for too long. Now I have a chance to be the first. Come on
This is particularly evident in NIO.
Since its inception, NIO has set its own goals and strives to do its best.
But this was not an easy task, at that time only Fuji from Japan was the only motor manufacturer that could meet the requirements, and this manufacturer was Tesla’s exclusive supplier. NIO realized that in order to build the core competitiveness of its brand, it must establish a sound technology self-developed system.

NIO invested 3 billion yuan in Nanjing in 2015 to establish NIO Drive Technology, which independently conducts forward research and production of high-performance motors and electric drive products.
In just a few years, NIO has taken the lead in mass producing a three in one electric drive system in the industry, developing and applying high-speed motors for the first time, and adopting silicon carbide module controllers for the first time… The flagship sedan’s ET7 0-100 km/h acceleration time is only 3.8 seconds, which has a comprehensive advantage over Tesla.
Of course, speed alone cannot fulfill the long-term expectations of China’s automotive industry. A good Chinese car that can be recognized by the world must be a product without any shortcomings.
NIO is very clear about this, what it needs to do is not a single breakthrough, but a “full stack self-developed” comprehensive breakthrough.
For example, after more than 400 days, NIO has developed the country’s first independently researched and mass-produced lightweight all aluminum body platform, using the 7-series aluminum alloy commonly used for aircraft landing gear and fighter jet fuselage to ensure strength while minimizing weight;
For example, chips and operating systems – at the “NIO Innovation and Technology Day” in July this year, NIO fully released China’s first vehicle wide operating system SkyOS · Tianshu, and announced the successful chip production of its self-developed world’s first 5nm automotive grade intelligent driving chip, the Shenji NX9031, achieving a historic technological breakthrough in the Chinese automotive industry with both the “core soul” and the “intelligent driving chip”.
After 10 years of establishment, NIO has fully entered the self-developed core key technologies of 12 major categories, which is backed by real investment.
According to NIO’s financial report data, NIO has invested over 50 billion yuan in technology research and development to date. Chinese car companies are achieving overall breakthroughs in the entire automotive industry through one underlying technological innovation after another.
There is no doubt that the new generation of Chinese car enthusiasts are luckier than their predecessors, not only because of the opportunity of the new energy revolution, but also because of the rejuvenation of the country. Only in this era can we have the confidence to fully invest, the strength to fully develop, and the confidence to become the industry leader.
So, when Chinese cars appear in front of the world with a brand new appearance and make a wonderful leap, it not only responds to the burden of these 70 years, but also repays the country and the times with kindness.

（3） Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, the wonderful leap is just the beginning

In 2013, China donated 20 Hongqi sedans worth approximately 2.3 million US dollars to the Pacific island nation of Fiji. The Wall Street Journal commented, “Forget about panda diplomacy, China has added a new weapon to its soft power arsenal – domestically produced luxury cars
At that time, foreign media were still amazed by China’s rise, but now they have become accustomed to it.

Yeah, when NIO ET7 became the official designated car for the China International Import Expo twice, NIO ES8 and other models became the VIP reception car for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, and became the guest car for world-class exhibitions such as the Yangtze River Delta Emergency Exhibition, the China International Cultural and Cultural Expo, the China International Fair, and the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, foreign politicians and elites had become accustomed to it and could no longer tolerate their previous cars:
This is simply a product of two eras
These are indeed two eras. In the previous era, Chinese manufacturing started with OEM and won with “low prices”. It was usable, but not irreplaceable; In this era, Chinese manufacturing, represented by new energy vehicles, has taken the lead in technology, experience, and brand, standing on a new high ground of technological innovation and brand power, truly representing a new image of a great country.
Represented by NIO, China’s new energy vehicles have broken through the dimensional wall and finally entered a vast and lofty new market – the global high-end market.
At the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement with its partner Green Car, announcing that it will officially operate in Azerbaijan and provide smart electric vehicle products and services to local users, further expanding NIO’s global footprint.
NIO’s intelligent electric executive flagship ET9 will also be officially released on NIO Day in December. Based on technology, ET9 will gather multiple technological innovations from NIO’s ten years of development and make another breakthrough.

This represents the “flagship moment” of China’s intelligent electric vehicles.

You see, when China’s new energy vehicles meet the world’s imagination of high-end cars, no one remembers the following moment anymore:
At the beginning of the reform and opening up, a foreign brand executive came to the Shanghai automobile production workshop and was stunned by the constant sound of hammers. He bluntly stated that this was the production method of the “grandfather generation”;
After visiting the Santana factory in China, a journalist from German magazine Der Spiegel lamented the weak industrial foundation and non-standard production processes in China. In the article, he described China as an isolated island in the world, unable to independently manufacture cars for decades;
On the Chinese Internet forum, people always sigh: “When will Chinese cars catch up with the world level?”.
Instead, the following screen appears:
Car manufacturers from all over the world come to China to purchase batteries;
The once arrogant European and American luxury car brands are transferring their innovation centers and research and development bases to China;
Politicians from various countries not only hope to ride in Chinese new energy vehicles, but also strongly invite Chinese car companies to invest and build factories overseas;
Foreign luxury car brands that used to compete with high premiums not only began to lower prices and engage in price wars, but also began to strategically shrink, relying on closing stores to reduce costs;
At the Beijing Auto Show, engineers from foreign car companies lowered their heads and lay on the ground, studying the chassis and batteries of Chinese new energy vehicles. They even measured the body with a tape measure and captured details with their phones
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. The Chinese automotive industry has accumulated strength and explored directions over 70 years, finally achieving a “wonderful leap”.
Of course, this is not the end point, it is more like a beginning. After experiencing their own history, Chinese automotive industry practitioners are obviously not as arrogant or short-sighted as their short-sighted foreign counterparts in the past. Instead, they are more open and enterprising, with a collaborative and cooperative heart, pushing the industry as a whole towards a new future.

（4）

Throughout the development history of China’s automobile industry, there have been twists and turns, mistakes, and uncertainties, but I have never considered giving up or surrendering.
Heaven is strong, and a gentleman should strive for self-improvement
This is probably the ultimate secret for China to rise again.