On June 30, at the invitation of Lord March,the founder of Goodwood Festival of Speed, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming attended the seminar on automobile development and participate in the themed forum on automotive technology application and policy formulation during the Festival. Richard Bruce, Director of Energy, Technology and Innovation at Department for Transport, William Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh, Dr. J. Chris Gerdes, Professor of Stanford University and Vice Chair of Advisory Committee on Automation in Transportation of U.S. Department of Transportation, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet, Juergen Maier, CEO of Siemens' Regional Company in the UK, and executives of other European and American enterprises such as Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes, Porsche, Faraday Future and Facebook were present.
Ambassador Liu said that in recent years, thanks to the sustained and sound development of China's economy and the steady improvement of people's livelihood, the auto industry in China has experienced a boom. In 2016, cars made and sold in China have both exceeded 28 million. For eight consecutive years, China has been the world's biggest automobile market. In particular, more than 507,000 new energy cars were sold in China, making China No.1 in the world in the sales of such kind of cars. China also owns almost half of the two million new energy cars made and sold around the world, ranking the first in the world again. Domestically, provinces and municipalities like Chongqing, Hubei, Guangdong, etc. are home to advanced auto manufacturing, representing a strong and thriving local auto industry. At the same time, auto parts manufacturing has grown fast and given strong support to the industry as a whole. Now, more than 80% of passenger cars in China use locally produced parts, while commercial vehicles are completely supplied with made-in-China auto parts.
Ambassador Liu pointed out that with the steady growth of China's economy and the deepening of urbanization, China's auto industry will sustain the good momentum for rapid development. At the same time, compared with developed countries, the current car ownership in China is at a comparatively low rate. There is relatively high demand for new and better cars in first and second tier cities, and growing market potential in third and fourth tier cities. These will continue to drive up car sale. China welcomes more investments from outstanding foreign auto manufacturers in China's central and western regions to fully tap the potential of the market there and to help China build a healthy auto industry and market.
Ambassador Liu noted that he was pleased to see that cooperation between China and countries in Europe and America on auto industry has achieved fruitful results, and that he himself had witnessed the successful cooperation project between China and American auto makers such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, as well as key China-UK auto projects including the opening of Jaguar Land Rover's factory in China and Geely Automobile's acquisition of the London Taxi Company. The UK has advanced auto industry with leading technology while China has a large market with comprehensive supporting capability. The two sides enjoy a huge potential for cooperation in the auto industry.
Noting the new round of technological and industrial revolution in the world and the new forms of industrial organizations and business models, Ambassador Liu highlighted the Chinese Government's vigorous encouragement for cooperation between technology companies and auto makers. At present, internet technology companies such as Baidu and Alibaba are actively involved in the development of smart and connected cars. This has significantly accelerated the IT application and smart development of China's auto industry. China welcomes exchanges between the world's top science and technology enterprises and their Chinese counterparts, so that they can work together to promote the integration of science, technology and auto industry, and create better transportation solutions.
Ambassador Liu also answered questions from the audience on China's policies on scientific and technological innovation in the auto industry and other issues, saying that the policies were formulated mainly at the national level. Specifically, the Ministry of Science and Technology takes the lead in formulating and implementing the policies of scientific and technological innovation, and the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also make policies in support of the development of auto industry. The provincial and municipal governments offer relevant incentives and make supporting policies on the basis of the strengths and needs of their own economy and industries.
The European and American entrepreneurs at the seminar briefed the guests on the current development of the auto industry in Europe and America and the trend of the integration between digital tech and auto industry. There was a great deal of optimism about the prospects of China's auto industry as well as readiness to further increase exchanges and cooperation with China in auto manufacturing, R&D, innovation and other areas.
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Founded in 1993, Goodwood Festival of Speed is the most well-known and the largest such festival in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year, and making Goodwood in the West Sussex County the "Mecca for car enthusiasts". The theme of the seminar at this year's Festival was Scientific and Technological Innovation and Development of Auto Industry.
