China’s ambitions in electric vehicles go beyond just making lots of cars

As the Shanghai Auto Show captured the attention of global carmakers, I spent the past week delving into a new book by Miao Wei, China’s former industry minister and a key architect behind the spectacular rise of the country’s electric vehicle (EV) industry.

In his book, Committed to Surpass: China Solution for Intelligent Connected Cars, Miao offers an interesting review of China’s advantages and challenges in becoming a leader in the global automotive industry during the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

While the world cannot help but marvel at, and sometimes complain about, China’s ability to churn out cost-efficient EVs, Miao’s book – published last month and available only in Chinese – takes a notably sober tone.

He argues that China has performed relatively well in “the first half of the match”, having established its strengths in EV manufacturing. However, the outcome of “the second half”, which involves the quest for leadership in AI-driven vehicles, remains uncertain.

Miao, who managed the country’s second-largest state-owned carmaker in the late 1990s, emphasises the importance of setting standards and regulations for cars of the future, which he defines as smart connected vehicles.

Despite China being the only country capable of producing 10 million EVs annually, many of them globally competitive, Miao says this achievement indicates scale rather than technological prowess.

  

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