China taps window period to enhance EV manufacture, exports, says industry insider

China has spotted a window period, maybe once in a century, which, if tapped properly, can boost the country's electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing to a new height and help define the global EV market, an industry insider told Xinhua in Detroit, U.S. Midwest state of Michigan, at the end of October.

"China is now defining the (EV) market, which the United States has been failing to do and other manufacturers have no ability to do, let alone preserve such an ambition," said Bill Zhuang, president and CEO of Angstrom Electric, a division of Angstrom Automotive Group, a leading tier 1 full-service supplier for Automotive and Industrial OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer).

Due to sectoral deficits, the automotive-manufacturing "Big Three" of the United States, namely General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, have all slowed down their transition to EV production. Staff members were laid off and factories closed, a sign of losing confidence in EV's prospects. However, latecomer Tesla has made money in the past five years, thanks to its strong presence in the Chinese market.

"China prides itself on efficiency, which is now hard to find in the United States," said Zhuang, recalling his September visit to over 10 EV manufacturers in China. "American manufacturers can give few marvels in the transmission system, interior and exterior design, customer experience and electric application, which are exactly the fields that their Chinese peers stand out."

Photo taken on July 6, 2019 shows a production line at a subsidiary of Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. (BJEV), a new energy vehicle producer, in Huanghua city of Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province. China has built the world's largest network of charging facilities for electric vehicles, as 1 million charging piles had been completed by the end of June. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

"And the most important thing with which China calls the shot is that a sound and full-dimension supply chain has been established within the country for making EVs in the past decade," noted Zhuang, who moved from China to the United States in the 1990s and has spent the last four decades building his career across both countries, accumulating vast industry knowledge and experience.

For the vehicle industry, supply chain is the key term, he said, adding that U.S. manufacturers have rushed to establish a complete supply chain within North America to avoid impacts such as tariffs on Chinese components and logistical delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they knew the rule too late.

"A whole supply chain within the manufacturer country itself! It is just a dream for people like us because it offers so much convenience, efficiency and accuracy," said Zhuang, who is based in Michigan, one of the industry's world hubs and home to more than three-quarters of all automotive research and development in North America.

"When the United States slows down and you take the lead, your only choice is to proceed even faster and, of course, stably, with a logical blueprint," he said, stressing that this is what the window period exactly means.

"Strategy and blueprint are things that this industry direly needs," said the experienced auto manager. "With these two things in mind and in effect, China's whole and sound supply chain of EVs can sustain growth and develop further, and eventually integrate into the world supply chain."