The report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has given high priority to ecological progress and green development, and specified "to establish an environmental governance system in which government takes the lead, enterprises assume main responsibility, and social organizations and the public also participate" and "to create a market-based system for green technology innovation, develop green finance, and spur the development of energy-saving and environmental protection industries as well as clean production and clean energy industries."

NIO, a research, development and manufacturing company of new energy automobiles in Shanghai, is one of the beneficiaries of these industrial and supportive policies implemented nationwide. Over the past three years, NIO has been developing rapidly in the International Automobile City in Jiading District of Shanghai by following the industrial trend of the city and the country. With a new car model to launch on Dec. 16, the company has been valued at more than US$5 billion (Industrial estimate rather than official data). 

Industrial policies put new energy automobile companies on fast track

The 19th CPC National Congress has decided to “blaze a new trail to industrialization featuring high scientific and technological content, good economic returns, low resources consumption, little environmental pollution and a full display of advantages in human resources,” which has reassured the advanced manufacturing companies on their future prospect. 

"As seen from the report to the 19th CPC National Congress, the economic planning and arrangements of the country for the next few years are very visionary and proactive," Qin Lihong, founder and president of NIO, said. 

As the birthplace of China's first self-produced car and one of the fastest-growing bases of the automobile industry with Chinese and foreign joint venture, Shanghai boasts effective support for the new energy automobile industry. The multi-level car-purchasing subsidy and the policy of free license registration offered by the Shanghai municipal government have facilitated the rise of new energy automobiles in Shanghai. The awareness of green commuting has also taken root among the people here. Now Shanghai has the largest number of new energy automobiles in the world. 

Three years ago, the newly established NIO set up its headquarters in Jiading District of Shanghai for two reasons. One was that Jiading District had brought together a large number of the world's top 500 automobile companies to set up over one hundred automobile research and development organizations, and formed a full automobile industry chain covering automobile manufacturing, parts and components manufacturing, R&D and design, sales and trade, sports exposition, financial services and talent training and so on. 

The other reason was that the founding team believed Shanghai's policies on attracting investment and its policies on the new energy automobile industry have created a favorable environment for starting up new businesses. Over the past three years, NIO has enjoyed a series of support in Shanghai. For example, the officials of the Shanghai municipal government and relevant organizations have made trips to NIO and provided practical help to the company. 

Global cooperation: Taking an active part in constructing an open economy

The report to the 19th CPC National Congress has specified "to develop an open economy of higher standards," uphold the basic state policy of reform and opening up, and pursue and promote economic transformation with a global vision. As an industry with global competition, the automobile industry cannot rely on one single country to fulfill its production. Therefore, the new energy automobile manufacturers are required to have a global reach at the early stage of their establishment. In order to do so, the operators should not only be visionaries, but the place where the companies are located should have an open mind and a global vision to help the companies to thrive. 

In an open economy, the domestic electric automobiles need a relatively free market flow across national borders to realize the optimal allocation of resources and the highest economic efficiency. The companies also need to get actively involved in the international market, participate in the international division of labor as fully as possible, while playing out their own comparative advantages in international division of labor to introduce more funds, talents and technologies. "Integrate the world’s resources and motivate the world's talents to work for us, then China will be the country leading the electric automobile industry in the future," Qin said. 

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