WEDZ's new landmark – Chunsun. [Photo provided to en.whkfq.gov.cn]
The global automobile industry is moving toward electrification and intelligentization. Wuhan, as one of China's six auto industrial hubs, has become a popular investment destination for international automobile and auto spare part giants.
In the past two years, Valeo, Cummins, Faurecia, and other titans in automotive spare components have established workshops or improved their production lines in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WEDZ).
According to the WEDZ investment promotion bureau, from 2020 to the first half of 2022, 17 foreign auto spare part projects have been established in the zone, with a total investment of 17.33 billion yuan ($2.58 billion).
The analysis shows that from 2020 to 2021, investors mainly focused on the intelligent transformation of production lines and the research and manufacture of auto chips, while investments made in the first half of this year mainly deal with autonomous driving, automotive electronics and new energy research.
Over the past 30 years, WEDZ has collected more than 120 foreign-invested auto parts suppliers based in over 10 countries and regions, including Germany, France, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.
For example, Faurecia has invested in WEDZ many times in different fields since 1992. Its four business areas – auto seats, auto interior decorations, intelligent driving, and auto electronics – are all present in the zone.
Valeo, one of the world's top 10 auto part suppliers, was among the first foreign residents of WEDZ. In 1995, it began to produce auto illumination systems in the zone, and its workshop has been expanded three times in the past 27 years.
"From January to June this year, Shanghai, Changchun, Guangdong and other places in China were hit hard by the pandemic and their auto supply chains have all been severely damaged. China is now desperate for a more secure and resilient auto supply chain system," said Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Wuhan's strategic role as Central China's most robust and important automotive research center is becoming even more prominent.
