Beijing, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Reference News recently published an article titled "From "China Sees the World" to "The World Sees China" Why the Shanghai Auto Show Attracts Global Attention". The full text is as follows:

Twenty-one grand events, forty years. The 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai Auto Show), which closed in early May, received a total of 1.01 million visitors from home and abroad, including 63,000 overseas visitors, writing a bold and colorful stroke on the 40th anniversary.

In 1985, the first Shanghai Auto Show. In the 10,000 square meter exhibition hall, imported automobile brands occupied an absolute dominant position, and multinational automobile giants such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, and Fiat all appeared. That year, SAIC Volkswagen, one of the first joint venture automobile companies, put its first production line into production in Anting, Shanghai. The opening-up process of China's automobile industry thus kicked off.

In 2025, the 21st Shanghai Auto Show. The exhibition hall covers an area of ​​360,000 square meters, attracting nearly 1,000 Chinese and foreign automobile industry chain enterprises to participate in the exhibition, exhibiting 1,366 vehicles, including 163 first-time new cars, becoming the "weather vane" of the global automobile industry.

Over the past 40 years, the Shanghai Auto Show has witnessed the leap and upgrade of China's automobile industry from "market for technology" to "technology export to the world", from "China sees the world" to "the world sees China". Through the window of the Shanghai Auto Show, we can see the extraordinary journey of Chinese cars "driving" to the world and world cars "integrating" into China, jointly promoting the Chinese automobile industry to lead the trend and win the future.

New trend of "two-way rush"

"Bringing in" and "going out", the Shanghai Auto Show has been promoting the exchange and integration of the Chinese and foreign automobile industries. At this Shanghai Auto Show, foreign joint venture brand car companies accelerated the intelligent transformation and promoted localized cooperation, and Chinese independent brand car companies vigorously demonstrated their global layout and comprehensive overseas strategy, and the two staged a "two-way rush".

In 2024, China's automobile production and sales will reach 31.282 million and 31.436 million respectively, breaking the 30 million mark for the second consecutive year, maintaining the world's first position. In the first quarter of 2025, China's automobile production and sales will reach 7.561 million and 7.47 million respectively, up 14.5% and 11.2% year-on-year respectively. For many multinational automakers, China is still an indispensable and important market in their global layout.

Volkswagen brand brought three world-first concept cars this year: SAIC Volkswagen ID.ERA targets the extended-range SUV track, FAW-Volkswagen ID.AURA shows the gene of youth, and Anhui Volkswagen ID.EVO achieves technological breakthroughs with its full-size pure electric architecture.

"'In China, for China' is not just a slogan, we use actions to fulfill our promises." said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group. In the past two years, Volkswagen has invested about 3.5 billion euros in its R&D center in Hefei, where new electronic and electrical architectures and advanced assisted driving systems were born.

Mercedes-Benz's new all-electric long-wheelbase CLA model made its global debut at the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show. It is regarded by the outside world as a benchmark for Mercedes-Benz's electrification and intelligent transformation. "Mercedes-Benz is launching the most powerful product offensive in the brand's history," said Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of directors of Mercedes-Benz Group.

In 2005, Chevrolet Aveo made its global debut at the Shanghai Auto Show, setting a precedent for the global debut of mass-produced models at the Shanghai Auto Show. Today, like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, more and more multinational automakers are bringing the latest and coolest models to the Shanghai Auto Show for their debut. Statistics show that 163 new cars were launched at this year's Shanghai Auto Show, a record high.

Behind the numbers, a clear signal is emerging: multinational automakers no longer simply regard China as a sales market, but as a core position for technology research and development and product definition.

While multinational automakers are competing to increase their stakes in the Chinese market, Chinese independent brand automakers are actively "going out" to explore the global market.

At BYD's Fangchengbao brand booth, Mocta Chafi asked the staff who was the international sales manager. Chafi is from Abidjan, the economic center of Côte d'Ivoire. He is the CEO of a local trading company and wants to know the purchase price and process.

Although he has been to China many times, this is Chafi's first time to the Shanghai Auto Show. He took out his mobile phone and took the initiative to show pictures and videos of his company's showroom, many of which are Chinese brands. "These are a batch of Dongfeng and Chery products we purchased before, and they are very popular." Chafi said that this time he was interested in the three pure electric SUV models of Fangchengbao. "My partner and I plan to buy about 100 units first. If they sell well, we will place more orders later."

Like Chafi, the number of foreign professional visitors at the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show has increased sharply. According to statistics from the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade, 12,000 overseas dealers participated in this Shanghai Auto Show. Reporters randomly interviewed a number of overseas dealers from the Middle East, Latin America, West Africa and other regions. They said that Chinese new energy vehicles are "hot goods" in the local market and there is no worry about sales.

According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first quarter of this year, China's total automobile exports reached 1.54 million units, of which 441,000 were new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 43.9%.

At the Shanghai Auto Show, SAIC Motor, which is at home, released the "Glocal Strategy", a combination of "global + local" strategies. Statistics show that SAIC Motor currently has more than 100 parts production bases, more than 20 sales and service centers, and more than 3,000 dealers overseas.

SAIC Motor President Jia Jianxu said that in the next three years, SAIC Motor will launch 17 new overseas models including SUVs, sedans, MPVs, and pickups, covering the world's mainstream market segments, and in combination with regional laws and regulations, accelerate the promotion of L2 urban intelligent assisted driving and L2 high-speed intelligent assisted driving functions overseas.

A new "arena" for automotive technology

In addition to being an important window connecting China and the rest of the world, the Shanghai Auto Show has also been an important "arena" for the display of cutting-edge automotive technology: extended-range technology and megawatt-class supercharging products have been unveiled, human-machine interaction has been upgraded to immersive perception, and artificial intelligence technology has been accelerated to "get on board"...

At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, car models have quietly retreated, and engineers and translators have become the protagonists of the booth. Technological progress firmly occupies the "C position" of the auto show traffic, further highlighting the technological attributes of the Shanghai Auto Show.

Gu Chunting, vice president of the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that under the theme of "embracing innovation and win-win future", this year's Shanghai Auto Show has set up an automotive technology and supply chain exhibition area with an exhibition area of ​​about 100,000 square meters, accounting for nearly one-third of the total area of ​​the auto show. There are nearly 400 participating companies, of which nearly 50 well-known domestic and foreign technology, semiconductor and chip companies are making their debut.

"As the saying goes, 'outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the doorway', automotive technology companies collectively move from behind the scenes to the front stage, which is one of the most distinctive features of this year's Shanghai Auto Show." Gu Chunting said.

According to statistics, new energy vehicles accounted for about 70% of the new cars launched at this year's Shanghai Auto Show, and breakthroughs in intelligence and energy technology became the core highlights. The evolution of the global automotive industry from the "first half of electrification" to the "second half of intelligence" was vividly reflected at this year's Shanghai Auto Show.

Intelligent assisted driving is undoubtedly the focus of the automotive industry at this stage. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2024, the sales of new passenger cars with combined assisted driving functions in China accounted for 57.3%. At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, in addition to major vehicle companies that demonstrated their own assisted driving capabilities, there are also many intelligent assisted driving-related companies, including international giants such as Bosch, Aptiv, and Magneti Marelli, as well as local star companies such as Horizon and Momenta.

Technology has increased the extension and imagination of the automotive industry, especially artificial intelligence technology. Through the integration of industrial chain technology and cross-border ecological reconstruction, artificial intelligence technology has opened up a new track for the automotive industry. At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Xiaopeng Motors displayed its self-developed flying car and humanoid robot "Iron Man", Chery launched a three-body composite wing flying car and a bipedal robot "Moyin", and FAW also made its global debut with the split flying car Hongqi "Tianyan No. 1". It can be foreseen that with the support of technology, cars are becoming smart terminals that connect energy, travel, data, entertainment culture and life. "It starts with cars, but it's more than cars", this new trend is particularly evident at the Shanghai Auto Show.

"China has transformed from a manufacturing country to an innovative country, which is particularly evident in the automotive industry." Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of directors of Bosch Group, said that Bosch has tens of thousands of engineers in China, who have carried out a lot of localized innovations, "China is becoming an innovative source of global smart travel."

China and foreign countries jointly create new opportunities

While most brands piled up their booths with dense new cars, SAIC Volkswagen brought an "anti-routine" demonstration during the auto show - moving the complete "quality laboratory" into the exhibition hall.

From the fifth-generation EA888 engine to the new energy battery pack, from the army of tens of millions of collision dummies to the environmental protection verification of interior materials, this old joint venture has built a "transparent factory" to allow the audience to feel the German craftsmanship's persistence in quality at close range.

"Quality is the life of SAIC Volkswagen." SAIC Volkswagen General Manager Tao Hailong emphasized on the spot that this persistence is being transformed into competitiveness in the era of electrification-SAIC Volkswagen's first full-size extended-range SUV concept car ID.ERA made its global debut at this Shanghai Auto Show, with a CLTC comprehensive range of more than 1,000 kilometers. At the first Shanghai Auto Show 40 years ago, the Santana model produced by SAIC Volkswagen was displayed in the most eye-catching central exhibition area of ​​the open-air square. In contrast, this new energy model today was jointly developed by the Chinese and German teams, and China's world-leading hybrid technology performed outstandingly.

In the past few years, relying on the technical advantages in electrification and intelligence, Chinese independent brand car companies have risen rapidly. According to data from the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, in March this year, the domestic retail share of Chinese independent brands reached 62.7%.

It is worth noting that many of the heavyweight products released at this Shanghai Auto Show came from joint venture brands. This means that joint venture brands have finally taken off the "long gown" of the fuel era, deeply practiced "localization" in products, used Chinese R&D teams, adopted Chinese technology, and ushered in the turning point of "accelerated return".

For example, the two intelligent bodies "Car Expert" and "Travel Companion" jointly developed by BMW and Alibaba made their global debut at this Shanghai Auto Show. Zipse, chairman of the BMW Group, said: "Every time I come to China, I will be infected by the technological progress and innovative vitality here. China is not only the world's largest automobile market, but also the world's most dynamic automobile market. If you can succeed in China, you will definitely succeed in other parts of the world."

Audi E5 Sportback is the first mass-produced model of the AUDI brand. Song Feiming, CEO of the Audi SAIC cooperation project, introduced that this model is based on the intelligent digital platform jointly developed by SAIC and Audi. This is not a simple product introduction, but a systematic and fundamental localized innovation.

The same is true for parts companies. Multinational automotive technology giant Bosch cooperated with local automotive chip company Horizon to develop an assisted driving system, and Visteon teamed up with Volcano Engine to launch an artificial intelligence large-scale cockpit solution. These cases all prove that multinational companies are deeply integrated into China's innovation ecosystem.

Industry insiders pointed out that in the past, domestic companies wanted to cooperate with multinational first-tier suppliers, which were often subject to strict terms and conditions. Now, as long as there is demand, the other party will actively seek cooperation.

From the "joint venture 1.0 stage" of introducing mature foreign models to the "joint venture 2.0 stage" of reverse technology output, by incorporating China's innovation capabilities into the global R&D system and creating cost-effective products with the strategy of "technical heritage + local innovation", joint venture brands are reshaping the market competition landscape. In this industrial transformation, "harmony and coexistence" has replaced zero-sum game and become the main theme of the times.

Local companies are also actively embracing opportunities for co-creation between China and foreign countries. At this Shanghai Auto Show, SAIC Passenger Vehicle's Roewe and MG brands debuted with a new look. Roewe's first concept car "Pearl" was designed by Joseph Caban, who was once the chief designer of Audi's appearance.

Yu Jingmin, executive vice general manager of SAIC Passenger Vehicle, said that cars are special commodities that accompany users for a long time. They need to have both the aesthetic level of the world's top designers and the pragmatic spirit of the localized team to promote the continuous innovation of local automobile brands.

The sea embraces all rivers, and tolerance makes it great. From the "world factory" to the "global innovation field", China is using the new narrative of openness, integration and symbiosis to provide oriental wisdom for the development of the global automobile industry.