Embracing Change, Shaping the Future Together - 2026 China Automotive Chongqing Forum Grand Opening

On June 12, the "2026 China Automobile Chongqing Forum (CACS2026)" was grandly opened at the Chongqing Yuelai International Convention Center. With the theme of "Shaping the Future of the Industry in an Era of Change", this forum was co-sponsored by the Automobile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the Automobile Industry Chamber of the China International Chamber of Commerce, and the Organizing Committee of the Chongqing International Automobile Exhibition. As the annual event of China's automobile industry, the 2026 China Automobile Chongqing Forum invited leaders from government authorities, automobile OEMs, supply chain companies, and delegations from many countries and regions, as well as Chinese and foreign guests, to talk about cutting-edge trends, seek common development of the industry, and play a role in the mid-year rehearsal, calibration direction, and enlightenment of the future. At the opening ceremony, under the chairmanship of Yang Lin, Vice President of the Automobile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Wang Xia, President of the Automobile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and President of the Automobile Industry Chamber of the China International Chamber of Commerce, delivered welcoming remarks, Chen Jian, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, Li Yanxia, Standing Committee Member and Chief Engineer of the Party Committee of the China Machinery Industry Federation, Wang Yun, Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Economic and Informatization Commission, and Zhou Qing, Counsellor of the Chongqing Municipal Government. Wang Xia: Three Questions for the Soul - Value War, Globalization, AI, Wang Xia, President of the Automobile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and President of the Automobile Industry Chamber of the China International Chamber of Commerce, raised the "three questions" in his speech, directly hitting the core of industrial change. First question: is value warfare an ad hoc tactic, or is it just a necessity for survival and development? He gave cold data: in the first five months of this year, 7.1 million passenger cars were sold nationwide, down nearly 20% year-on-year; the profit margin of the automobile industry was only 3.2% in the first quarter, lower than the average level of industrial enterprises under regulations. The threefold decline in sales volume, revenue, and profit is a rare occurrence in Shifu. The marginal effect of the price war is accelerating and decaying. Sales without profit support are just empty digital games, and the profits maintained by subsidies are finally the tower on the sand. But positive signals are also emerging - with nearly 20 brands collectively raising prices or pulling back on offers, the industry is shifting from “much lower than who” to “live longer than who.” Second question: Is globalization an add-on or a new course? Wang Xia bluntly said: "Overseas markets are facing completely different variables, different rules of the game and different regularities. It is by no means a simple externalization of the Chinese market. The era of ro-ro ships alone pulling goods out of the sea has become a thing of the past, and true globalization must practice the concept of win-win cooperation. Win-win is synergy, zero-sum is resistance." Third question: Is AI an upgraded version of intelligence, or is it the next great thing in the technological revolution? “AI is not just a technical issue, not just a simple enabler or upgrade to electrification and intelligence, AI will bring a rewrite of the underlying logic and operating mechanisms of the entire industry. It will surely exceed our imagination again in 10 years. "Chen Jian: The more challenges and opportunities we have to discuss, the less likely we are to compete with former Vice Minister of Commerce Chen Jian Chen Jian in his speech. On the situation, Chen Jian believes that the current changes have two causes: the change in the world economic landscape - the proportion of GDP in developing countries rose from 18% in 2002 to more than 40% in 2022; and the contradiction caused by the changes in development demands and space constraints.“ Farmers know that hard land does not grow crops, it is necessary to loosen the soil. Change is opportunity, and the more challenging it is, the more you have to talk about it. "Talking about the inner volume, he pointed out that this is an" old problem ", from home appliances, motorcycle wars to current cars." After half a day of investigation, there is no scientific concept of inner roll competition, which is generally vicious competition. "There are three reasons: the homogenization is serious, the development space is small, and we are not yet very competitive -" We will not compete, we will come to the knife as soon as we get started ". He advocated the distinction between fair competition and unfair competition, and that the solution to the inner volume should not be by means of restrictions, but by means of reform and opening up. Talking about overseas development, he warned that" do not take the inner roll to foreign countries "and suggested four things: formulate a guiding overseas layout plan, establish an integrated service system, establish a multi-level cooperation mechanism, and attach great importance to overseas security. Li Yanxia: The future is not limited to product technology, but Li Yanxia, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the China Machinery Industry Federation and chief engineer, pointed out that the current cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, new energy, and new materials have accelerated breakthroughs, and the global industrial system and competitive landscape have accelerated reshaping. Artificial intelligence is becoming an important variable affecting the future of the automotive industry. Automobiles are changing from traditional vehicles to mobile intelligent terminals. The future competition is no longer limited to products and technologies, but is a contest between innovation systems, industrial ecology and comprehensive capabilities. Li Yanxia used a set of data to show the vitality of the industry: In 2025, the added value of enterprises in the machinery industry increased by 8.2% year-on-year, achieving an operating income of 33.2 trillion yuan; in January-April 2026, China's automobile sales reached 9.57 million, of which new energy vehicles exceeded 4.3 million, accounting for 45%, and automobile exports increased by 61.5% year-on-year. At the same time, she reminded that the phenomenon of homogeneity in some fields still exists, and the industry is not concerned with "whether it can develop", but "how to develop better, more stable and longer-term". In view of the new stage of global competition, she put forward three suggestions: adhere to innovation-driven, focusing on core technologies such as automotive chips and solid-state batteries; adhere to value creation, promote the focus of competition from price to value, and from scale to quality; adhere to openness and synergy, and promote international development from "product to sea" to "system to sea" upgrade. Wang Han: Industrial Brain + Future Factory, Wang Han, deputy director of the Chongqing Economic and Information Technology Commission, focused on the wonderful butterfly changes in Chongqing's automobile industry: in 2025, the city's automobile output reached 2.788 million, ranking first in the country's cities; the output of new energy vehicles was 1.296 million, 30 times that of 2020. In Chongqing, the leader led the realization of the new leap, the new central enterprise China Changan Automobile landed, Xilis, Qianli Technology, etc. formed a cluster system of "18 complete vehicle + more than 1,200 parts companies on the rules", to achieve full coverage of the localization of the major systems of intelligent networking new energy automobile parts. The product structure continued to be optimized, and the influence of mid- and high-end brands such as Boundary, Avita, and Deep Blue increased. The value of mainstream new energy vehicle bicycles in Chongqing reached 240,000 yuan, and high-end models above 300,000 yuan accounted for 16%. In terms of application ecology, the construction scale is the first in the country, the pilot application of intelligent connected vehicles has accelerated, and Changan Automobile has obtained the first batch of L3 conditional intelligent driving model access permits in China. Wang said that at present, artificial intelligence is driving the evolution of automotive product form to embodied intelligence, leading to the underlying logical reconstruction from research and development, production to service. Chongqing will seize the opportunity to deepen and expand the new model of "industrial brain + future factory" led by the "AI + automobile" revolution, systematically promote the reshaping of industrial ecology, and accelerate the construction of an intelligent connected new energy vehicle capital. Zhou Qing: The automobile industry presents seven characteristics. Together, we can win the future of Chongqing Municipal Government Counselor Zhou Qing Zhou Qing summed up the seven characteristics of China's automobile industry in the first five months of this year: "Active domestic demand, strong exports, leading new energy, fuel shrinkage, declining foreign brands, accelerated product technology iteration, and increased industry concentration". At the same time, the price war continued and profits declined. Expanding overseas, innovation-driven, and opposing inner rolls have become the consensus of the industry. Zhou Qing said that Chongqing, as a strategic pivot point for the development of the western region and a comprehensive hub for inland opening up, has a development goal of more than 3.8 million vehicles in 2030, of which more than 2.5 million are new energy vehicles, with exports exceeding 1.5 million, and products are sold worldwide. Zhou Qing pointed out that the current automotive industry is in a critical window of transformation and upgrading. Only by working hand in hand with peers can we win the initiative, win the advantage and win the future. He sincerely invites entrepreneurs and friends to cultivate Chongqing, share development opportunities, build a highland of the automobile industry, and contribute wisdom and strength to the transformation and upgrading of China's automobile industry and the realization of high-quality development.