essay: "go to china!" instead of "de-sinicization"
2024-09-10
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xinhua news agency, berlin, september 9 (xinhua) recently, the german volkswagen group issued a statement saying that in order to further cut costs, the company is considering closing one of its car manufacturing plants and a parts plant in germany. if the plan is implemented, this will be the first time volkswagen has closed a local factory since its establishment.
volkswagen's plan to close its local factories reflects that under the wave of electrification sweeping the world, the traditional automobile industry in germany and even europe is facing the dilemma of declining competitiveness. faced with the new environment, some european politicians are not focusing on how to improve the competitiveness of their own industries, but instead blame it on the rapid development of chinese companies in the field of new energy vehicles, wielding the stick of protectionism against china, intending to push their own industries out of the predicament by imposing tariffs on china or "de-risking" or even "de-sinicization".
exterior view of volkswagen (anhui) co., ltd. (drone photo, taken on june 7, 2024). photo by xinhua news agency reporter guo chenprotectionism will not bring competitiveness, and the industry has long reached a consensus on this. since the eu launched an anti-subsidy investigation against chinese electric vehicles in october last year, automakers such as volkswagen, bmw, and mercedes-benz have said that they can only improve their competitiveness in a fully competitive market and do not need protectionism to maintain their markets.
in fact, going to china and increasing investment in china are becoming an important choice for european veteran automakers, including volkswagen, to cope with the new situation. in april this year, volkswagen announced that it would invest 2.5 billion euros to expand its production and innovation center in hefei; mercedes-benz group just announced this month that it plans to invest more than 14 billion yuan in china with chinese partners to further enrich the localized product lineup of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles...
on april 25, 2024, at the 2024 beijing auto show held at the shunyi pavilion of the china international exhibition center in beijing, tang shikai, a member of the board of directors of mercedes-benz group ag, introduced the mercedes-benz pure electric g-class off-road vehicle. photo by xinhua news agency reporter cai yanggo to china, because china has a super-large consumer market. data shows that china's automobile production and sales have ranked first in the world for 15 consecutive years. as people's income levels continue to rise, china's automobile consumption demand will grow more strongly. the swiss newspaper neue zürcher zeitung pointed out in an article that german car companies are very successful in china, the world's largest automobile market, and one out of every three cars they sell is sold in china.
go to china, because it is the best way to enhance global competitiveness. china is at the forefront of the world in technologies such as new energy batteries, autonomous driving and in-car entertainment. european car companies are increasing investment and expanding production in china, strengthening local r&d capabilities, and actively integrating into the chinese automotive industry ecosystem. this is an inevitable choice for european car companies to enhance their brands' global competitiveness under the global green transformation trend. since volkswagen and xiaopeng motors established a cooperative relationship in july last year, they have signed technical cooperation agreements many times. ferdinand dudenhöffer, an authoritative german expert in automotive economics and director of the bochum automotive research institute, said: "german engineers used to teach the chinese how to build cars. now in the field of electric vehicles and autonomous driving, chinese car companies have brought a lot of inspiration to german car companies."
going to china is not just an option for the automotive industry. in recent years, large multinational companies including electronics, machinery, retail, and pharmaceutical manufacturing have stepped up their investment in china. a report released by the german chamber of commerce in china shows that more than half of the german companies surveyed plan to increase investment in china in the next two years.
the world trend is strong and powerful. only by actively embracing change and strengthening cooperation with an open attitude and achieving mutual benefit and win-win results can we be invincible in the fierce market competition. protectionism cannot protect backward industries, nor can it enhance competitiveness. it will only increase market uncertainty.
"go to china!" rather than "de-sinicize" is the only correct choice.
