Business representatives from China’s auto industry have called for an open and fair business environment despite the ongoing tensions between China and the US. Officials revealed that they expect closer ties to jointly develop the auto industry, directed at smart electric vehicles (EVs).
Addressing the China-US auto industry seminar, the assistant secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Xu Haidong disclosed that Chinese and American auto companies have been successfully cooperating. He said that the two sides have leveraged their respective advantages to establish a win-win situation.
“Chinese companies want to invest in the US, to participate in its innovation activities and integrate into its economy. But this needs the US to provide a more stable, fair and transparent business environment.”
Xu also called on the US government to cancel punitive tariffs against China and restore confidence among Chinese investors. He added that “China also welcomes US firms to grow with domestic auto industry,”
US tech giant Tesla witnessed its sales in the Chinese market more than double last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This, officials say, is thanks to the rapid economic recovery in China under effective coronavirus prevention measures.
Ford Motor also sold 602,627 vehicles in China last year, up 6 percent from 2019. This represents the company’s first annual growth in the world’s biggest car market since 2017.
The seminar was the first of the US-China Commercial Match-Making Program (CMP) in 2021. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the US Commerce Department jointly launched the event in 2005.
China urges US to bring bilateral relations back to the right track
Optimism about China’s economic development
A slew of recent surveys by the US Chamber of Commerce, the US-China Business Council, and the American Chamber of Commerce in China have all revealed that foreign companies in China are optimistic about the prospects for China’s economic development in the future.
According to the surveys, these companies are willing to continue to take root in China. They also oppose the economic decoupling of the two countries.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association indicated at the seminar that China’s EV industry is currently leading the world in terms of the establishment of an industry system, improvement of technology levels and corporate competitiveness, and infrastructure construction
“The EV sector in the US is still wide open. The EV supply and industry chains aren’t mature enough, and there is room for competitive domestic players to tap into…”
Zhang Shenfeng, Vice-Chairman of CCPIT, insisted however that, the business community is more than qualified to set mutually beneficial goals.
“As the participants, promoters and beneficiaries of economic and trade cooperation between China and the US; the business community is more than qualified to set the goals for a mutually beneficial and win-win nature of China-US economic and trade relations. As well as the extensive common interests and huge space for their cooperation”.
