The 19^th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, to take place from April 21 to 28 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, will showcase the integration of future technologies and vehicles that can improve people’s lives. The theme this year is “Embracing Change” with a focus on innovative developments in the automobile industry, new energy vehicles (NEVs), autonomous driving and connected cars. This year’s event will have around 1,000 exhibitors, including many of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers, auto parts makers and tech firms showcasing their latest products. It will cover a total area of 360,000 square meters, according to the organizers. 

China is the world’s most important market for future technologies in the automotive industry, and carmakers are increasingly focusing on the application of the latest technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data. Among the event’s major exhibitors will be Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, as well as domestic automakers including SAIC Motor, FAW and Dongfeng Motor. Automakers will display the latest technologies related to electric vehicles, such as a new generation of batteries and updated charging infrastructure. New-energy vehicle startups will be among the show’s highlights. Leading auto part companies like Bosch and Continental will display their latest products, while tech firms including Huawei, Baidu and DJI will display their latest technology breakthroughs in the automobile industry.

The Future Mobility exhibition area will showcase advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) and driverless vehicles. China’s auto sales reached almost 6.5 million units in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of more than 75% year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

Auto sales in China surged 74.9% in March over the same month a year earlier, marking the 12^th consecutive month of gains. The Association predicts China’s 2021 car sales will increase 4% year-on-year to reach 26.3 million units. According to the exhibition schedule, April 19 and 20 will be press days that are open only to the media. Industry professionals can visit the Expo from April 21 to 23. From April 24 to 28, the event will be open to the public. Visitors will be required to show their Shanghai health QR code, have their temperature taken and present a valid personal ID before entering the exhibition, the Shanghai Daily reports.  

Huawei Technologies Co launched a series of intelligent car components and solutions including 4D imaging radar in a sign the company wants to develop other business areas besides mobile communications, which are subject to U.S. sanctions. Wang Jun, President of Huawei’s Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) Business Unit (BU) said that Huawei will invest USD1 billion in developing intelligent vehicle solutions this year, with a global research team exceeding 5,000 technicians and engineers. The release came one day after Huawei and BAIC Motor Corp jointly launched ARCFOX Alpha S, a new generation of luxury smart electric cars which offer autonomous driving even in complex traffic scenarios. Huawei is thereby launching a challenge to Tesla. Huawei also reiterated that it will not manufacture cars itself, but will only help car producers make better vehicles.

The 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) opened in Boao, a coastal resort in Hainan province. The theme of the four-day annual conference is “A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Cooperation”. Everybody entering the venue needs to have a body temperature check. Those with a body temperature over 37ºC will not be allowed to enter the conference area and will be directly taken away for nucleic acid testing and go through medical treatment or observation. “Despite the pandemic, a total of approximately 2,600 representatives from more than 60 countries and regions, and more than 1,200 journalists from 160 media organizations from 18 countries and regions attend the conference,” BFA Secretary General Li Baodong, told a press conference. “In total, more than 4,000 participants have registered offline for the event – an  unprecedented scale – and it is the world’s largest offline conference so far this year,” said Li. Moreover, 40 dignitaries and former dignitaries, 74 former ministers and officials, dozens of senior leaders and envoys in China, representatives of international organizations, and nearly a hundred executives from world-renowned companies, will also attend the meeting via online or offline channels, Li said. 

Topics including carbon neutrality, climate change, and the digital economy will top the agenda in the following days. “The fact that we are sitting face-to-face and in crowded places, and yet we know we are safe is an indication that the pandemic can be prevented and managed, which shows strong political will,” Siddharth Chatterjee, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, said in a group interview. The BFA released its annual report on the Asian economy saying that under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Asian economies have experienced a sharp drop in growth rates, however, Asian economic performance as a whole has been significantly better than the rest of the world. In terms of purchasing power parity, Asia’s share in the global economic aggregate in 2020 reached 47.3%, up 0.9 percentage points from 2019, the report showed, indicating the increasing role of Asia in the global economy. As Asia’s largest economy, China led Asia with an impressive GDP growth rate of 2.3% last year, the Global Times reports.

China is aiming to have its manufacturing enterprises fully digitized by 2035, with breakthroughs in various types of intelligent manufacturing equipment, key parts, devices and software, in a bid to upgrade its massive but declining manufacturing sectors and avoid technological blockades by the U.S. As part of a draft action plan, 70% of the intelligent manufacturing equipment and 50% of industrial software will be sourced domestically. China will also aim to formulate or revise 200 national and industry standards for intelligent manufacturing and establish more than 120 industry internet platforms, according to the draft plan by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). To achieve these goals, China is to research and develop 1,000 kinds of advanced intelligent manufacturing devices and products, including automobile engines and gearboxes, large-scale integrated circuit manufacturing equipment, and new display manufacturing equipment. The draft plan will also focus on technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, blockchain, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), and computing, according to the MIIT.

The draft plan also calls for further international cooperation and exchanges in tackling key problems of intelligent manufacturing technology, formulation of standards, testing and certification, and personnel training in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the BRICs and the RCEP. Multinational companies and foreign research institutes are encouraged to build intelligent manufacturing research and development centers, demonstration factories and talent training centers in China, according to the draft plan. The plan will help to promote and accelerate self-sufficiency in key technologies, which face blockades by the U.S., said Hu Qimu, Chief Researcher at the Sinosteel Economic Research Institute. 

“Only by developing new materials and advanced manufacturing can China break technological blockades imposed by Western countries,” Hu told the Global Times. The plan also aims to boost the added value of China’s secondary industry, which serves as the backbone of the economy, he added. According to the MIIT, the economic contribution of China’s manufacturing industry is shrinking. In 2016, the proportion of manufacturing in the nation’s economy peaked at 32.45% before declining to 27.17% in 2019, the Global Times reports.

The freight train service between China and Europe is developing fast. From January to March, 3,345 freight train trips were conducted between China and Europe, a year-on-year increase of 70%. They carried 317,000 containers, up 79%, according to the China State Railway Group, the national railway operator. By January, the country had seen more than 1,000 such trips for the ninth consecutive month, the group said. In 2011, when the service began, only 17 trips were made. The freight train service has played a significant role in stabilizing industrial chains, facilitating China-Europe trade and supporting the global battle against the coronavirus. Major railway ports including the Erenhot land port in Inner Mongolia and the Khorgos land port in Xinjiang have expanded their capacities, adding more facilities for loading and unloading and opening more cross-border train tracks.

Representatives from transportation organizations and businesses from countries operating the freight train services have held three video conferences since last year to discuss international cooperation, ensuring punctuality of the service and aiming to establish a safe, stable and effective international logistics channel. By February, the trains had delivered 9.97 million epidemic prevention and control items – including protective masks and medical supplies – weighing 80,000 metric tons to Germany, Poland, Belgium and other countries. Last year, a record of 12,400 freight train trips were made between China and Europe, a year-on-year growth of 50%. They carried 1.14 million containers, up 56% from 2019. 

The China-Europe freight train service, considered to be a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has boosted trade between China and participating countries. Last month, the blocking of the Suez Canal led to the increase of inquiries about the China-Europe freight train service as an alternative means of transport. The outbound service starts in many cities in China such as Yiwu in Zhejiang province and Chengdu in Sichuan province, leaves the country via the land ports in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, passes through Russia and central Asian countries and arrives in western Europe. The journey usually takes about two weeks, but it is cheaper than air freight and faster than maritime services. While the maritime and air freight capacities have been affected by the pandemic, the freight train service has expanded its market. 

China’s securities regulator unveiled revised guidelines on qualifications for listings on the NASDAQ-style sci-tech board in Shanghai, which set limits on fintech IPOs and bar financial investment firms from seeking a listing in the market. The regulator wants to align the Shanghai market with China’s push for breakthroughs in cutthroat technologies, market watchers said. The updated guidelines might sink hopes for Ant Group to rekindle its pulled IPO under its current organizational structure, but the financial holding firm could still list its sci-tech part in the market. The revised system for evaluating the sci-tech attributes of firms filing for an IPO in the STAR Market in Shanghai creates a negative list, and imposes strict limits on industries eligible for Star Market listings, Li Weiyou, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Offering Supervision at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said at a press conference.

Firms engaging in six industries including new-generation information systems and high-end equipment will be supported to float on the market. Companies falling under fintech innovation will have their IPO plans combed through and their listings in the Shanghai market will be restricted, according to the CSRC official. Real estate firms and those principally engaging in financial investment will be banned from floating on the Shanghai market. The revised guidelines took effect on a trial basis on April 16 as an update to the rules that were initially announced in March 2020. The revision suggests Ant’s suspended IPO may never be rekindled, judging by its existing business lineup, Dong Shaopeng, Senior Research Fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China, told the Global Times. The Alibaba fintech offshoot’s dual IPOs in Shanghai’s STAR Market and Hong Kong were suspended in early November ahead of their planned debut, after Alibaba’s management was grilled by financial regulators.

Ant will apply to transform itself into a financial holding company as part of a multifaceted rectification plan, Pan Gongsheng, Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), announced. In a sign that it is becoming more difficult for fintechs to list on the Shanghai board, Chinese online retailer JD.com’s fintech unit withdrew its filing for an IPO in the STAR market earlier in April. The Hong Kong market is still open to fintech IPOs, although Chinese fintech firm Bairong’s debut in Hong Kong at the end of March turned out to be a disappointment with its shares plunging 16% on IPO day, rendering it the worst debut among IPOs topping USD500 million in the Hong Kong market in three years, the Global Times reports.