People visit the 18th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)
BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile industry is expected to witness a higher concentration amid the accelerating cross-industry integration this year, the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily reported on Monday.
China's internet giant Baidu has recently announced to establish a smart car company, which will enable it to be a vehicle manufacturer.
So far, Baidu has cooperated with more than 70 automobile companies in more than 600 vehicle models including family cars and self-driving buses. Baidu's entry into the vehicle manufacturing field can be seen as a further extension of its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy in the field of smart travel, and a supplement to the smart travel industry chain, said the report.
Zhangjiang High-tech Park in Shanghai's Pudong New Area and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group also invested in a car company led by the leading Chinese automaker SAIC Motor.
The new round of cross-industry integration in domestic automobile industry focuses more on the complementary advantages between enterprises and the integration of industrial chains, which will promote the automobile industry to continuously upgrade in terms of technology and quality, and further increase the industry concentration, said experts.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the automobile sales in China stood at 25.311 million units in 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9 percent. However, the sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) hit a record high at nearly 1.37 million, an increase of 10.9 percent year-on-year.
Despite the fallout of the COVID-19 in 2020, the domestic automobile industry still achieved good performances last year, indicating that the Chinese auto market, especially the NEV market, maintained great development potential, said the report. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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