Several ministries of the Chinese government said on Saturday at the International Forum (TEDA) on Chinese Automotive Industry Development that they planned to promote technological innovation in the auto industry.
The move is intended to lead the entire auto industry in China to a better quality growth.
Nian Yong, director of industry coordination division of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said China's auto industry was in a period of transforming itself from an investment-driven to an innovation-driven industry.
"It is very urgent for China's auto industry to integrate all the resources within the industrial chain and to strive to make technological breakthroughs in a bid to climb up the value chain," said Nian.
According to Nian, the NDRC has created a three-year plan to reinforce the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry, in which the development of smart vehicles is a significant part.
"We are attempting to support the development of core technologies like onboard chips through our policies to achieve the goal," said Nian.
Xu Chaoqian, deputy director of hi-tech development and industrialization division of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), expressed his concern about the industry's innovative ability.
"We are on our way to improving the weak links in making strategic products, developing our own comparatively advanced technologies, and building some research centers focused on enterprise technologies," said Xu.
To make a difference, the MOST will, on the one hand, focus on the development of the hydrogen fuel cell for vehicle use and self-driving technologies on the other hand.
"We have applied ourselves to the research and development of core technologies like hydrogen production and storage, as well as hydrogenation. The second task for us is to promote research on self-driving vehicles and smart identification," said Xu.
Song Qiuling, deputy director of the economic construction division of the Ministry of Finance, maintained her stand in the development of new energy vehicle, which from her point of view had manifested shortcomings in technological innovation when compared to its counterparts abroad.
"We have made progress, but the industry's foundation is not that solid and has shown a lack of ability in technological innovation, especially in power batteries and key components," said Song.
According to Song, the Ministry of Finance will continue to raise the threshold to obtain subsidies and endeavor to give full support to competitive products and enterprises, which is also a move to speed up the supply-side reforms in the new energy vehicle industry.
Also, Song suggested that the industry has a sense of crisis and has to forge itself towards a higher level of quality technological innovation. Meanwhile, Song held that authorities should work together to promote technological innovation within the industry through integrated policies.
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