Auto leaders optimistic as Anhui emerges as industry hub

Leaders of major automobile companies expressed optimism regarding the potential of the automobile industry in Anhui province during the ongoing Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. The source of that optimism is the province's complete industrial chain and unprecedented support from the government.

According to local authorities, Anhui produces one of every 10 new energy vehicles in China and one of every four exported automobiles.

In the first quarter of this year, the province's automobile production reached 620,000, of which 207,000 are NEVs, accounting for 9.4 percent and 9.8 percent of the national total, respectively. Additionally, Anhui's automobile exports reached 326,000, up 28 percent year-on-year and was 24.6 percent of the national total.

Anhui has seven automobile producers, including Chery, Nio, Volkswagen and BYD, which have heavily invested in the eastern inland province. It has over 2,800 auto parts and related companies covering power batteries, motor control, intelligent connectivity, lightweight materials, sales, maintenance and recycling.

"Anhui puts its automobile industry first, accelerating the development of finished vehicles, core parts and an after-sales market. We are constructing an NEV industrial cluster with global competitiveness," said Han Jun, Party secretary of Anhui, at a conference during the exhibition on Sunday.

"I hope for more resources to be invested in Anhui, more high-quality projects to be brought to Anhui, and advanced technologies to be introduced to Anhui, where good projects lack no good policies, good applications lack no good scenarios, and good ideas lack no talent," Han added.

Wang Chuanfu, BYD's chairman and president, said at the event that he was inspired by Han's speech and will increase investment in Anhui.

The company has settled its biggest NEV production base in the provincial capital, Hefei, and has new power battery and key parts manufacturing bases in Wuhu, Bengbu, Chuzhou and Fuyang. It also has more than 140 sales service centers, making Its investment in Anhui roughly 70 billion yuan ($9.7 billion).

BYD produced half of the province's NEVs from January to March and hired 28,000 new employees this year.

The company debuted its Qin L and Seal 06 models during the exhibition, both produced in Hefei. "Anhui is a place of charm, an emerging industrial powerhouse, and the only province covered by both the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the national strategy of the rise of Central China. It is showing signs of substantial yet latent potential and robust momentum and is at a crucial stage of significant and promising development," he said.