Auto city driving the economy in Changchun

Changchun International Auto City, a brand-new automotive industrial park in the Changchun Automobile Economic and Technological Development Zone in Northeast China's Jilin province, is set to be a world-class automotive industrial cluster and will play a significant role in supporting regional upgrading and transformation, according to the local government.

The 471-square-kilometer auto city, jointly developed by Chinese automaker FAW Group and the Changchun government, received approval from the Jilin provincial government in February.

According to local officials, the auto city will have an annual industrial output value of 800 billion yuan ($118.96 billion) by 2025. It will become a world-class vehicles and components research and development center, an automotive production center and an automotive aftermarket service center. It will also grow into a hub to demonstrate achievements in high-quality development in China and set a production benchmark in the global automotive industry.

Located in the Changchun Automobile Economic and Technological Development Zone, a national-level automotive-centered development zone in China established in 2005,the auto city enjoys abundant industrial resources that cannot be found in other parts of the world. They include a complete industrial chain,strong innovation capacity and large talent pool. In the first eight months of 2020, large-scale enterprises in the development zone, which each have an annual operating income of more than 20 million yuan, reported industrial output value of 294.08 billion yuan, an increase of 14.3 percent year-on-year.

"The auto city is a dynamic place with a solid industrial development foundation and a well-equipped innovation support system," said Wang Haiying, vice-mayor of the Changchun International Auto City Working Committee of the Communist Party of China, at the fourth China-Germany automobile conference held in Changchun on Oct 12 and 13.

Wang said the auto city is now home to seven auto brands of FAW Group, including FAW Toyota and FAW-Volkswagen, and 340 component makers including Fawer,Webasto and Continental. It also boasts dozens of automotive aftermarket service providers.

As of Oct 12, there are more than 100,000 well-trained auto-related workers and nearly 1,000 experienced auto business management professionals in the auto city, which ensures strong manpower support to enterprises.

There are also more than 20 automotive associations, 40 universities,89 research institutes and 25 national-level research and development centers to facilitate policymaking and innovation, and support the auto city to stand at the frontier of industrial innovation.

The testing reports provided by the National Center of Quality Supervision and Inspection of Automobile Spare Parts(Changchun) are recognized in 42 countries and regions, said local officials.

The auto city is also linked to some automotive cities such as Japan's Osaka and Nagoya by direct flights.

Over the past nine months, construction on many key projects has begun in the auto city.

FAW Group, which aims to the lead future development of the auto city, has started dozens of projects in the region, including a new energy vehicle plant, a smart factory project for Hongqi-branded vehicles, a smart vehicle demonstration and testing facility, and a technology development center for FAW-Volkswagen.Over the past nine months, its total investment in the auto city was more than 20 billion yuan.

Construction on some component manufacturing facilities, including the Xuyang China-France Intelligent Industrial Park, the Herun Industrial Park and Linglong Tire's new production site, is going well. According to the auto city, a total of 18 component manufacturing projects with total investment of 24.44 billion yuan have been signed in the region.

Construction of an industrial park focusing on digital economy,invested in by digital service provider EGO Group, has started. Total planned investment in the industrial park is 7 billion yuan.

The landmark auto city is seeing an influx of investors who are keen to seize opportunities to support their long-term development.

The city signed 11 projects during the fourth China-Germany automobile conference covering fields such as smart charging facilities, new energy power systems and robotics.Those projects will help to expand the automotive industrial chain in Changchun and accelerate the auto city's construction, said local officials. Those new investors include industrial robotics manufacturer Kuka and Chinese software engineering service provider Neusoft.

Looking ahead, the auto city will build auto-themed parks, premium medical resources and accommodation facilities. Residential properties built for global leading experts are under construction. It will not only be an industrial park but also a place to live and have fun.

"The auto city is a place full of miracles and business opportunities,"Wang said. " The auto city will make great strides and continue to create miracles in its development."

Han Junhongcontributed to this story.