Foreign investors flock to Wuhan development zone

Lotus's production models appear in the United States as it gets listed there. [Photo provided to en.whkfq.gov.cn]

From job positions in production to research and development, the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WEDZ) has become one of the areas in Hubei province with the highest number of foreigners. The region has specially designed communities and several large international schools for them.

In recent years, global automotive parts giants, such as Faurecia from France and ZF from Germany, have successively increased investment and expanded their production scale in Wuhan, taking a keen interest in new energy research and development, automotive electronics, and software and other emerging fields.

"With the vigorous development of China's intelligent connected vehicle market, we have decided to establish our automotive electronics R&D center in Central China to develop Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)," said Li Li, vice president of Faurecia China Operations.

Faurecia Group is one of the world's seven major automotive parts suppliers. It has businesses in Wuhan for all four of its major business focuses, namely green and intelligent driving, automotive seating, interior systems, and auto electronics.

Representatives of overseas automakers visit WEDZ. [Photo provided to en.whkfq.gov.cn]

From April 22 to 23, over 90 French automotive entrepreneurs and representatives visited two Wuhan new energy vehicle factories that are invested in by VOYAH and M-Hero respectively.

In mid-April, VOYAH vehicles entered the Italian market, and its first batch of 100 cars quickly sold out. Over the last two years, the brand has successively entered European countries such as Norway, Finland, and Denmark.

Three months ago, Lotus went public in the United States, becoming the first company in Hubei to be listed overseas this year. "Next year, Lotus plans to set up more than 300 global stores," revealed Feng Qingfeng, CEO of Lotus.