On October 16, 2021, the 1st China-Germany Summit on Overseas Development of Smart New Energy Vehicles & “HOME Program” Automobile Elite Dialogue Day was held in Beijing. This forum was guided by the Department for International Cooperation of China Association for Science and Technology, sponsored by China Society of Automotive Engineers, co-sponsored by Beijing Association for Science and Technology, Deutschland-Alumni China and Oxford & Cambridge Alumni Beijing, and organized by Science Popularization and Education Center of China Society of Automotive Engineers. This event was generously supported by Beijing Institute of Engineers and Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany.
Member of Leading Party Members’ Group and Vice President of BAST Meng Fanxing, and deputy secretary general of China Society of Automotive Engineers Yan Jianlai attended the forum. CAS academician and Royal Academy of Engineering academician Chen Qingquan, executive chairman of Deutschland-Alumni China and partner of Senior Smart Driving Wang Chuhao, Harbin Institute of Technology professor and founder of JJE Cai Wei, head of smart IoT department of Dongfeng Motor Technology Center Bian Ning, SVP of Gotion High-tech Li Chen, VP of NIO Group and CEO of NIO Europe Zhang Hui, co-founder and VP of Beijing Idriverplus Technology Co., Ltd Huo Shuhao, chief representative of Hamburg liaison office in China Pan Hua, and director general of Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany Duan Wei delivered keynote speeches. This forum was hosted by secretary general of Automotive Application and Service Branch of China Society of Automotive Engineers Xu Nianfeng.
Meng Fanxing said in his speech that BAST has always been actively liaising with scientists and technologists and regards overseas scientists and technologists as an important driving force behind scientific and technological innovation, sparks the vitality of science and technology societies and experts at home and abroad, and serves the high-quality development of the capital city by connecting international sci-tech organizations, overseas scientists and technologists and global innovation elements. BAST jointly sponsored the first summit forum with sponsors under the guidance of the international cooperation department of CAST to jointly discuss opportunities of overseas development for Chinese and German smart new energy vehicles, which is very important to further enhancing two-way technical exchange between China and Germany, allowing the world to better understand the windows and platforms offered by China and promoting further exchanges and cooperation between China and European countries.
Yan Jianlai thanked and appreciated the participation of leaders and guests on behalf of sponsors, briefly talking about how CSAE does in terms of strategic research, collaborative innovation, standard building, academic exchange, science and technology awards, talent cultivation, science popularization culture and international cooperation, with a focus on CSAE’s achievements in fostering automotive professionals, promoting auto industry technical exchange at home and abroad, and spreading automotive science and technology knowledge. He said the exchange and cooperation between China and Germany especially on auto industry are very important, overseas returnees have a large room for development along with the rapid development of new energy and smart connected vehicle industry in China, they are an important force for innovative development of high-tech auto companies and are needed for the development of China’s auto industry, and that CSAE will leverage its strengths to provide intellectual and talent support for the auto industry and provide various services for overseas returnees engaged in the auto industry.
Chen Qingquan made a subject-matter speech online titled “smart new energy vehicles fuel the evolution from the 4th industrial revolution to the 5th industrial revolution”. Academician Chen Qingquan stressed the importance of innovation as a driver, talked about auto revolution and smart new energy vehicle, as well as the convergence of “four networks” (transport network, energy network, information network and humanistic network) and “four flows” (energy flow, information flow, material flow and value flow), and expressed his viewpoint that “the development of smart new energy vehicles can promote carbon neutrality and fuel the evolution from the 4th industrial revolution to the 5th industrial revolution”.
Wang Chuhao gave a speech titled “development status of autopilot industry in Germany and opportunities for Chinese companies going abroad”. He analyzed the current status of autopilot industry in Germany and the thoughts and opportunities for Chinese companies to pursue business presence in Germany or Europe.
Cai Wei made a speech titled “creating electrically driven global competitiveness for new energy vehicles”, in which he talked about the history, current status and trends of electric drive industry and emphasized his viewpoint that “strong core parts and components mean strong electric vehicle industry”. He said that auto industry practitioners at home and abroad will be called upon to jointly create global competitiveness when motors reach a stage where materials and critical parts and components are integrated.
Bian Ning made a speech titled “Dongfeng Motor’s autopilot technology today and technological transition”, in which he talked about the history, current status and trends of autopilot industry in China and introduced Dongfeng Motor Group’s autopilot technology planning. He particularly talked about the current status of Dongfeng autopilot technology development and call upon overseas returnees to jointly create critical resources and industry chain for leading core technology of smart driving.
Li Chen gave a speech titled “Gotion High-tech’s globalization and carbon neutrality thoughts”, in which he talked about how Gotion High-tech deepens its globalization strategy through cooperation with Volkswagen and acquisition of Bosch factories, and what kinds of solutions Gotion High-tech can provide on the energy consumption end and production end in the fields of electrics, electronics and motor from the perspective of energy revolution.
Zhang Hui gave a speech titled “exploration and practice of establishing European user community of NIO”, in which he briefly talked about NIO’s overseas development and current status and particularly shared NIO’s thoughts, ideas and practices in the globalization process.
Huo Shuhao made a speech titled “Idriverplus’ autopilot business practice and exploration of overseas markets”, describing the development profile, core technology and corporate vision of Idriverplus, and shared the company’s go-global practices of autopilot products.
Pan Hua gave a speech titled “Smart Transport Strategy and Investment Opportunities in Hamburg”, talking about what investment advantages and opportunities Hamburg has as a typical German city of smart transport and smart city, as well as favorable policy and industry environments for Chinese auto companies to go global and pursue business presence in Hamburg.
Duan Wei made an online speech titled “current status and issues of business operations of Chinese companies in German market and suggested solutions”, analyzing the past, present and future of Chinese companies in Germany and providing suggestions about development opportunities, challenges and strategies for Chinese companies in Germany.
At the roundtable dialogue part of this forum, CEO of Beijing Handaten Technology Co,. Ltd Wang Leijie, CEO of Beijing Senior Smart Driving Co., Ltd He Bei, VP of Horizon and General Manager of Investment Department of Horizon Yuan Bingbing, secretary general of Automotive Application and Service Branch of CSAE Xu Nianfeng, managing director of investment banking department of CICC Ma Qinghai, chief representative of Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers in China He Hong, and other industry chain companies, industrial institutions, government agencies and industry investors engaged in sufficient exchanges and discussions surrounding the topic “international cooperation and talent strategy for autopilot”. All participants unanimously agreed that smart connected vehicles are a cross-domain industry that requires deep cross-boundary integration and autopilot companies have to go global in order to become bigger and stronger, but the competition among industry companies boils down to competition for talent, which is also true of competition among countries. Talent is a topic that must be addressed in order for overseas returnees to come back to China for business ventures and then go global for development, so whether “talent sharing” can be achieved among alumni is worth exploring and practicing for all.
During the conference, assistant director of Science Popularization and Education Center of CSAE Zhang Zhiqun held a ceremony to announce German companies’ cooperation requirements on behalf of sponsors, where he shared cases of German companies seeking Chinese business partners in the fields of chip, sensor, energy and battery recycling, etc.
Last, honorary chairman of Oxford & Cambridge Alumni Beijing Pei Yu thanked all participants and onsite guests on behalf of joint sponsors, hoping that Oxford & Cambridge Alumni Beijing can join hands with overseas returnees as an official alumni platform to jointly face the challenges of industrial “globalization”.
After the conference, chairman of this forum Xu Nianfeng said the next five years would be acceleration period for global science and technology revolution and industrial transformation and also a critical period for marketization of new energy vehicles and commercialization of smart connected vehicle L3 or above, meaning the tidal waves of “new four modernizations” of automobiles are unstoppable. But the undersupply of new vehicle practitioners brought by “electrified, smart, connected and shared” development of the auto industry is a daunting issue, especially given the huge talent gap in the globalization of autopilot industry, which is a pain point for all technology startups seeking growth. Currently, the existing new vehicle practitioner transformation and incremental new vehicle talent cultivation in China lag behind, a “talent competition” situation that has been worsen by the second wave of “car making boom”. We hope the conduct of this forum can build a platform of exchange and communication for overseas returnees engaged in the smart new energy vehicle to promote technological cooperation and overseas sci-tech talent sharing between China and Germany in the field of smart new energy vehicles. This platform is expected to gather, integrate and make good use of overseas returnees to drive China’s smart new energy vehicle industry to grow healthily and rapidly and contribute to making China’s auto industry “stronger after becoming bigger”.