Examination of the 20th Anniversary of China's Automobile Industry's "WTO Accession": From "Bringing In" to "Going Out"

"20 years ago, neither myself nor the people around me expected that China's accession to the WTO would have such a great impact on China." In the 20 years since China's accession to the WTO, China's development has not only exceeded its own expectations, but also exceeded the expectations of the world. A few days ago, Dong Yang, former executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said to the reporter of China Business Daily.

As a veteran of the automotive industry, Dong Yang has participated in the negotiation of China's "WTO accession." In his view, the choice to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a very correct decision, and China has also fulfilled its commitment to join the WTO very effectively, faithfully and comprehensively.

After 20 years of development, China has gradually moved from an automobile power to an automobile power. According to the "China Auto Industry Development Annual Report 2021", China's auto market remained stable in 2020, with sales of 25.31 million vehicles, and the proportion of global automobile sales increased to 32.5%, ranking first in the world for 12 consecutive years. In 2001, China's automobile production was only 2.3344 million units, and sales were 2.3637 million units, an increase of 12.81% and 13.29% respectively.

"Before and after joining the WTO, Geely obtained car production qualifications and the opportunity to compete with Chinese and even global auto brands." The relevant person in charge of Geely Group told reporters. Jiangqi Group also said: "Since China's accession to the WTO, the company has fully grasped the development opportunities brought to the automotive industry, and has promoted the high-quality development of enterprises through the close integration of the 'introduction' and 'going out' strategies." ”

"China's accession to the WTO provides good institutional conditions, and the high efficiency and low-cost advantages of Chinese manufacturing are the fundamental driving force for the rapid development of China's automobile industry, and in the current stage of innovation leadership and green development, we must better reflect the new advantages of enthusiasm for innovation and encouragement of innovation." Dong Yang said, "Looking forward to the future, under the general trend of strengthening environmental protection and intellectual property protection around the world, it will not only not restrict the development of China's automobile industry, but will promote the transformation and upgrading of China's automobile industry." ”

Independent brands embark on the road to rise

Twenty years ago, on December 11, 2001, China officially became the 143rd member of the WTO. Statistics show that in the past 20 years, China's exports have increased by 870% and imports by 740%, the volume of trade in goods has jumped from sixth in the world to first, and trade in services has also risen from 11th to second in the world.

In the past 20 years, China has proved with practical actions that the world economy is inseparable from China, and China's development is inseparable from the world. This is especially true in the automobile industry, such as jiangqi group, geely group and Chery group, such as traditional mainstream car companies, actively integrated into global competition, has developed into a "world car forest" can not be ignored an important force.

Regarding the changes brought by the "WTO accession" to the domestic automobile market, the relevant person in charge of Geely Group told reporters: "Joining the WTO has created opportunities for Chinese enterprises to go global, and at the same time, it is necessary to open up the Chinese market, which is a fair trade rule." ”

The person in charge said: "At that time, the pressure on China's auto market was relatively large, the strength of Chinese car companies was relatively weak, and foreign car companies had relatively large advantages in terms of products, technology, talents and brands. More than 90% of China's auto market is occupied by imported cars or joint venture brands. Many people are worried that opening up the market to foreign investment will affect the development of China's own brand car companies. ”

Long Yongtu, chief negotiator of China's "WTO accession," once said that one of the industries that China was most worried about in the early days of china's "WTO accession" was the automobile industry. At that time, the domestic auto industry involved nearly one million jobs, and if something went wrong, it would have a huge impact on the entire Chinese manufacturing industry.

But in fact, the situation that the outside world feared did not appear. Dong Yang told reporters: "China's accession to the WTO has promoted the opening up of China's automobile industry, and almost all world-class automobile manufacturing enterprises have set up joint ventures in China." But the initial widespread concern in the industry about imported cars hitting the domestic market did not occur. ”

In the 20 years since china's accession to the WTO, The strength of China's auto companies themselves has also been strengthened. The relevant person in charge of Jiangqi Automobile Group told reporters that China's accession to the WTO has enabled its own brands to thrive in adversity, and the statement that "the automobile industry will become the industry that will be the most affected" at the beginning of "WTO accession" has not been fulfilled, but has become more powerful.

The above-mentioned person in charge of Jiangqi Group further said: "With the continuous improvement of market position, international auto giants continue to introduce the latest models into China, and have set up R&D centers in China, further enhancing the overall development level of China's automobile industry. In the face of the 'encirclement and blockade' of international auto giants, China's independent brand car companies have shifted from passive to active independent innovation, and China's auto industry as a whole has risen vigorously. ”

According to the data, independent brand commercial vehicles have now occupied 90% of the domestic market share, and the market share of passenger cars' own brands has approached 40%, and the domestic car market has formed a pattern of "three points of the world" of Japanese and Korean car systems, European and American car systems and independent brands. "At present, in the face of the development opportunities of intelligent new energy vehicles, many 'new car-making forces' have begun to rise, and together with traditional car companies, they have gradually launched an impact on the mid-to-high-end market, and independent brands have embarked on the road to rise." The above-mentioned person in charge of Jiangqi Group said.

Lower tariffs boost market penetration

"Whenever I see a family driving around, I feel that the difficult negotiations have paid off." Recently, in an interview with the outside world, Long Yongtu once sighed: "China's accession to the WTO is a very great thing."

The above-mentioned person in charge of Jiangqi Group told reporters: "With China's accession to the WTO, auto tariffs have begun to be significantly reduced, and the price of imported cars has also been reduced. In addition, foreign auto giants have also poured into China with a large number of the latest models. ”

The reporter noted that according to the WTO regulations, since January 1, 2006, the domestic vehicle import tariff has been reduced from the previous 30% to 28%, and on July 1, 2010, it was further reduced to 25%; at the same time, the tariff on auto parts such as gearboxes, shock absorbers, radiators, clutches and steers was reduced from 13.5% to 12.9% to 10%. Since 2018, China has reduced the tariff on complete vehicles to 15%, and abolished the foreign ownership restrictions on special vehicles and new energy vehicles; in 2020, China further abolished the foreign ownership restrictions on commercial vehicles.

"At the beginning of the 'WTO accession,' Santana, Jetta, and Fukang's 'old threes' accounted for about 60 percent of the market share, and the market share of the 'North and South Volkswagens' also accounted for more than 50 percent, while domestic cars were difficult to be favored by the market because of their small production scale, higher prices than foreign countries, and backward models." The above-mentioned person in charge of Jiangqi Group said that after 20 years of development, the output of independent automobile brands has achieved rapid development, the scale effect has gradually emerged, the management cost has been decreasing, and the sales price has also decreased year by year.

"At the beginning of the 'WTO accession', tariffs on imported cars fell, and the annual import volume of automobiles remained at the level of more than 1 million units. With the development of the domestic automobile industry, the proportion of imported cars in the domestic market is getting smaller and smaller, and the impact of imported vehicles on the domestic market is not as large as imagined, but the development speed of China's automobile industry is far beyond imagination and expectations. Dong Yang said.

The relevant person in charge of Jiangqi Group also told reporters: "The reduction of import tariffs and the liberalization of the share ratio have made the domestic automobile market usher in more competition from domestic and foreign brands, and the price of the domestic automobile market has continued to decline when the competition is fierce." ”

"After the sharp decline in tariffs, the domestic car sales price also began to fall sharply, which greatly accelerated the pace of cars entering family life." For example, Dong Yang said that for example, the price of The Xiali brand car exceeded 90,000 yuan before the "WTO accession", and dropped to more than 40,000 yuan after the "WTO accession", which can make more people affordable. ”

Auto analyst Ren Wanfu also told reporters that since china joined the WTO for 20 years, China has become the world's largest new car consumer market. "'WTO accession' has brought more joint venture brands and opportunities to learn from, and more independent brands have emerged, and China has contributed the largest consumer market to the world."

Widely participate in international market competition

"For China's auto industry, there is also an unexpected result of 'WTO accession', that is, allowing private enterprises to enter the field of passenger car manufacturing." Great Wall Motor, Geely Group and BYD all entered the passenger car manufacturing field after joining the WTO and have now grown into the main force of China's auto industry. Dong Yang said.

In the 20 years since China's "WTO accession", it has also brought many development opportunities to independent brand car companies. The reporter noted that on November 9 and December 26, 2001, Geely's JL6360, HQ6360, MR6370 and MR7130 models boarded the product announcement of Chinese automobile manufacturers issued by the State Economic and Trade Commission, becoming the first private enterprise in China to obtain car production qualifications.

In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Geely Group said that "WTO accession" means that China's market access conditions are more transparent and standardized, and the market is more predictable. "'Accession to the WTO' has created favorable conditions for Geely to improve its quality and technical level, as well as the globalization of design, research and development, talents and markets, so that Geely can integrate into the world, participate in the global division of labor and cooperation, share costs, share results, and occupy the commanding heights of technology."

The relevant person in charge of Jiangqi Automobile Group told reporters: "After china's accession to the WTO,' China's automobile industry has actively cooperated with international enterprises in joint ventures, and its production and research and development capabilities have developed rapidly, and endless models have stepped off the production line. During this period, international auto giants began to take the Chinese market as the focus of global strategies, and the speed of capital increase and expansion, comprehensive layout, and new car introduction was significantly accelerated. ”

On the question of how to seize the opportunity in the 20 years of "WTO accession," the above-mentioned person in charge of Geely Group said that after China's accession to the WTO, Geely insisted on "walking on two legs": On the one hand, it insisted on independent innovation, and in the face of the impact of foreign brands in technology, talents, products, and brands, Geely insisted on taking its own road and constantly deepening personnel training and technological innovation; on the other hand, Geely also adhered to the "going out" strategy, through participating in competition in the international market, especially through international mergers and acquisitions to carry out technology. Communication and integration of management and talents.

"For example, Geely's cooperation with Volvo and Daimler. In this process, Geely establishes the foundation of cooperation, and the core purpose is to achieve synergy in all aspects of technical personnel training and operation management, learn from the world's advanced enterprises, and develop synergistically on the basis of comprehensive follow-up, and then achieve partial transcendence. Geely Group said.

The same is true of Jiangqi Group. According to reports, in the field of international business, Jiangqi Group has exported its products to South America, Europe, Africa and Asia and other regions, initially entered the high-end markets such as Turkey, Italy and Mexico in North America, exported more than 700,000 vehicles, and established 19 overseas KD assembly plants in Kazakhstan, Russia, Vietnam and Mexico, realizing the localization of product manufacturing, sales and service.

In the future, how should Chinese car companies seize the opportunities of the times? Dong Yang told reporters that China's auto industry should continue to maintain an open attitude. "The expansion of opening up in the first 20 years is to allow foreign automotive technology and management systems to enter China, and the two sides jointly cultivate, create and share the Chinese market." In the future, we must continue to expand opening up, so that China's automobile industry can go global and benefit the world economy. ”

Yang Rangchen, a reporter of this newspaper, also contributed to this article