It will be a must-do for Chinese automakers to operate on an international scale as the country's globally leading production capacity continues to grow, said exhibitors at the ongoing 22nd Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition that runs from November 15 to 24 in Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province.
With a month and a half left in the year, China's annual output of new-energy vehicles has already surpassed the 10-million mark as of Thursday, making it the first country to achieve this milestone, according to data from industry group China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
China became the world's largest auto exporter in 2023 and is expected to secure the position this year. In the first 10 months of the year, the country exported 4.855 million cars, up 23.8 year on year.
However, many exhibitors at the auto show have noted that it's not sustainable for Chinese automakers to rely solely on exports. They are now also investing and building factories overseas, while developing logistics, finance and after-sales services businesses and building supply chains in some countries.
"Our plant in Thailand has begun operation. The plants in Indonesia and Malaysia will start operation next year. In the meantime, we are also making arrangements in Europe and North America," said Gu Huinan, general manager of GAC Aion New Energy Automobile Company.
While continuing to deepen their overseas strategies, Chinese automakers have also attached importance to the protection of intellectual property.
"BYD has always attached great importance to technological innovation and intellectual property protection. To date, we have applied for more than 57,000 patents in China and more than 12,000 patents overseas," said Zhao Jie, senior manager of Intellectual Property Department of BYD.
Earlier this month, the State Administration for Market Regulation, China's top market regulator, issued guidelines for strengthening regulations on antitrust behaviors pertaining to standard essential patents.
With rules clearly laid out, the guidelines will help promote fair market competition and protect the driving forces of industrial innovation and development, according to the administration.
"The guidelines have filled the institutional gap in China's supervision of standard essential patents and provided a clear legal basis. In the future, automakers should actively strengthen international intellectual property cooperation and demonstrate the technological innovation capabilities of China's automobile industry in global competition," said Wang Junlei, chief expert of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.
Going global a must-do for Chinese automakers amid growing production capacity
China's newly-commissioned deep-ocean drilling vessel, Meng Xiang, is set to push the boundaries of scientific exploration into the deeper ocean with a maximum drilling depth of 11 kilometers.
As China's first homegrown deep-sea drilling vessel, it measures 179.8 meters in length and 32.8 meters in width, with a displacement of 42,600 tonnes. It boasts a range of 15,000 nautical miles, a self-supportability for 120 days, and a capacity to accommodate 180 people.
Commissioned in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou on Sunday, the vessel is the first in the world that integrates the functions such as deep-ocean scientific drilling, oil and gas exploration, and natural gas hydrate investigation and trial extraction.
"It is the first hydraulic lifting rig in the world that is capable of both oil and gas exploration and core sampling. It can drill to depths of 11,000 meters and is smart and highly integrated. It contains a core sample system designed by the Chinese people that handles the collecting tools, automated transfer, and storage. It also has versatile drill bits suitable for different rocks, from the soft rock to the hard rock in deep sea. Its capabilities meet the third generation, or the latest, international standards and requirements of 11,000 meters of ocean drilling. It is the most advanced and highly integrated drilling system," said Wang Mingxin, a member of the vessel's manufacturing supervision team of Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey under China Geological Survey.
The vessel also features nine advanced laboratories, covering areas such as geology, paleomagnetism, microbiology, and ocean science.
"The lab on the deep-sea drilling vessel of Meng Xiang is currently the largest one among scientific research ships. It covers almost all major disciplines in ocean science, including environmental monitoring of the atmosphere and water, basic geology, chemistry, and biological analysis," said Zhou Yang, a member of the vessel's manufacturing supervison team of Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey under China Geological Survey.
According to Zhou, researchers can analyze the distribution and species information of micro-organisms found in sediment or rock samples to determine the age of the strata and the sedimentary environment in the lab for microbiology.
Zhou also said that the laser microscope on the vessel has an optical resolution of over 1,000 times and can precisely capture two-dimensional and three-dimensional structural information of organisms.
"It is a mobile national laboratory in some way. For certain analyses that require timely processing, a fast and accurate analysis can be done on board, preventing from changes to samples, which may occur when transporting samples back to the shore. After the first two sea trials, it has been confirmed that the performance of all onboard equipment is much better than expected," said Zhou.
Traditionally, human activities and scientific exploration have been limited to the Earth's crust, which averages 15 kilometers in thickness. Beneath the crust lies the mantle, a crucial layer linking the surface to the core.
China's new deep-ocean drilling vessel revolutionizes deep-sea scientific research
