Baoding steers growth of NEV industry

New energy vehicles have become a major force in the automotive industry with their increasing presence in people's daily lives.

"The taxis and buses we take every day, and even garbage trucks and sanitation vehicles we see on the roads, are powered by new energy," said Wang Zhaoqiang, a resident of Baoding, Hebei province.

Last month, the city received more than 400 hydrogen-powered sanitation vehicles, including street-washing and cleaning vehicles, featuring zero emissions and low noise.

Baoding has become a key hub for China's NEV industry, thanks in part to Great Wall Motor, one of the country's leading automakers. The company set record sales for NEVs and overseas exports last year.

According to Great Wall Motor, it sold more than 1.23 million vehicles in 2024. Sales of NEV models reached 321,795, a year-on-year increase of 22.82 percent, while overseas sales totaled 453,141 vehicles, up 43.39 percent from the previous year.

With more than three decades of experience, the company has developed a multi-faceted strategy for NEVs, incorporating hybrid, pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

Leveraging its global production system and extensive layout in the new energy sector, the automaker plans to introduce advanced NEV models into overseas markets, the company's executives said.

"As a pioneer among Chinese automakers expanding globally, Great Wall Motor's eco-friendly approach can offer insights into building intelligent and connected ecosystems abroad," Parker Shi, head of the company's overseas business, said in October at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference in Beijing.

Great Wall Motor has also been a leader in self-developed intelligent connected vehicle technologies. Its in-house technology brand, Coffee Intelligence, encompasses intelligent cockpits, driving systems, cloud platforms and customer services.

"This is turning the vision of the automotive AI era into reality, leading users into a more intelligent and user-friendly travel experience," Shi said.

He noted that the company's Lanshan model is equipped with Coffee Pilot Ultra, its latest-generation intelligent driving system. The system does not rely on high-precision maps and can handle a variety of road conditions, including highways, urban streets, rural roads and mountain passes.

The company's advancements in new energy and intelligent connected vehicles reflect broader industry trends in Hebei and across China.

According to Hebei's Industry and Information Technology Department, the province produced more than 950,000 vehicles last year, including 356,700 NEVs, a year-on-year increase of 151.6 percent. The province's automakers have adopted multiple technological pathways, including traditional fuel, pure electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell technologies, producing a range of passenger cars, buses and trucks.

To support the development of intelligent connected vehicles, Hebei has built and put into operation 550 kilometers of smart highways.

Nationwide, 11.25 million NEVs were registered last year, up 51.49 percent from the previous year and accounting for 41.83 percent of all newly registered vehicles, according to Xinhua News Agency. The number of NEVs has surged from 1.2 million in 2019 to 11.25 million in 2024, the report said.

"The rapid development of new energy vehicles is driven by a combination of policy incentives, technological innovation and an improving industrial supply chain," Yin Jingpeng, director of the industrial policy research office at Hebei Machinery Institute, told Hebei Daily in January.