Battlefield where the tanks are cars

Research focus

In the car industry, possessing strong research and development is crucial for keeping or building a competitive edge, he said.

To develop its brand, Changan is setting up more R&D centers worldwide. Since setting up its first global R&D center in Turin in 2003, it has set up five more in Chongqing, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US.

More than 90 percent of the employees at the overseas R&D centers are non-Chinese, most of them engineers. The overseas centers are mainly responsible for the R&D of Changan cars to be sold in China. The Italian center does about 80 percent of the company's design work.

"R&D is always our biggest focus and we will continue to invest heavily in it," Zhu said.

One of the biggest challenges for the company is to reduce vehicle emissions, and the R&D centers have played a key role in this. Since the centers were set up the company has been able to cut emissions by 40 percent with its greener vehicles.

About 10 percent of Changan's 80,000 employees, in 16 countries and regions, work in its R&D branches, the company said.

On the problem of overcapacity in China, Zhu said: "Last year China produced about 38 million cars, but the demand was for just 25 million. Many automakers will suffer from this overcapacity.

"But these problems throw up some opportunities, too. In the process of industry consolidation, we are looking to mergers and acquisitions, including some in the EU and in the US."

The group aims to develop e-commerce business by using Chinese online shopping websites such as JD.com and Tmall.com to promote sales worldwide, he said.