The Spring Festival holiday of 2026 has just ended, and German Ronny Buechner drove early into the core area of Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone. Here is Volkswagen's intelligent manufacturing base in Anhui and research and development center in China, which is also the largest research and development center of this old German car company outside of its headquarters in Germany. The location of Volkswagen's headquarters in Germany, Wolfsburg, is directly translated as "Wolfsburg" in German, so the research and development center in Hefei is also known as the "Oriental Wolfsburg" in the industry. In the park, Chinese and German engineers are working closely together to debug a new round of new energy vehicle technology iteration. Pei Ruoning, the current government affairs manager of Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Anhui Branch, has been working in China for over ten years and can now speak fluent Chinese. After work, he and his colleagues occasionally went to strip the skewers, a European style street in Hefei; On weekends, I like to take my family on trips to the Yangtze River Delta. The last article in this special feature series tells the story of Pei Ruoning in China, which is not only an extension of the industry chain across Asia and Europe, but also a true portrayal of the win-win cooperation between Chinese and foreign car companies in the wave of new energy vehicles. Pei Ruoning, who went from being a "master apprentice" to a "partner," joined Volkswagen Anhui in 2021 and personally experienced the "0-1" system construction of the Hefei factory. By the end of 2025, the third phase project of Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. will be successfully put into operation in Hefei. The R&D center has direct product decision-making and release authority, enabling Volkswagen to complete the complete development process of the new car platform from concept to market readiness outside of Germany for the first time in history. After operation, it helps shorten the vehicle development cycle by about 30% and optimize development costs by about 40%. The 'Hefei experience' has given Pei Ruoning a deep understanding of the logic behind Sino foreign cooperation. Pei Ruoning candidly stated that in the context of the "leapfrog development" of China's new energy vehicle industry, the role of foreign car companies has shifted from the past single entry experience to a two-way "joint innovation". Pei Ruoning's story is not an isolated case - car enthusiasts from different countries have jointly written the industry story of mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes between Chinese and foreign car companies for decades. During this period, there was a two-way transition of roles, intense competition with each showing their unique abilities, and fruitful results of mutually beneficial cooperation in the new era. Sun Xiaohong, Secretary General of the Automotive Internationalization Professional Committee of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, told the Global Times that the continuous promotion of Sino foreign cooperation is the fundamental driving force for China to become the world's largest automobile producer, and to achieve the transformation from "following" to "running in parallel" and even "leading" in industrial system construction, supply chain support, and independent research and development capabilities. At the same time, it is also the deep driving force behind accelerating the iteration of global new energy vehicle technology, promoting the green transformation process, and benefiting billions of households. In April 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during his inspection of GAC Aion New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. that China is a major country and should attach importance to the real economy and take the path of self-reliance. Key core technologies should be based on independent research and development, and international cooperation is also welcome. China adheres to the dialectical unity of open policy and independent innovation, laying a solid foundation for deep cooperation between Chinese and foreign car companies. Driven by the speed and iteration efficiency of innovation in China, a path of "reverse innovation" has quietly taken shape: more and more multinational companies are relocating their decision-making and innovation centers to China and collaborating with local software technology companies to deeply integrate into China's innovation industry chain. In this wave of multinational car companies looking east, technological cooperation is also constantly deepening. Volkswagen Group (China) Chief Technology Officer Wu Borui revealed in an interview with Global Times that Volkswagen is deeply cooperating with multiple Chinese companies such as Horizon and Xiaopeng, focusing on intelligent connected vehicles and system level chips. He sighed, "In the automotive industry, China is leading the global innovation wave, especially in the fields of electrification and intelligent vehicle technology." Feng Shiming, a senior analyst in the Chinese automotive industry, told Global Times reporters that in the past, cooperation between Chinese and foreign car companies was more like a "student teacher relationship," with foreign car companies providing technology and brands, while the Chinese side mainly undertook the functions of production bases and sales markets. Nowadays, the cooperation between the two sides is close to a partnership model. For example, the German side can share scientific development processes, vehicle grade standards, and rigorous testing, while the Chinese side can provide huge advantages in new energy technology, ultra-low cost, and supply chain, and its effect can naturally achieve 1+1 GT; 2. This kind of relationship sometimes even involves the Chinese side being the teacher and the foreign side being the student. ”From "in China, for China" to "in China, for the world", in March 2024, the Xiaomi car factory in Yizhuang, Beijing, became the focus of the industry as soon as it was unveiled. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford CEO Jim Farley once specifically shipped a Xiaomi SU7 from China to the United States and personally drove it. In Xiaomi's Yizhuang factory, a new car can be produced every 76 seconds, and key processes such as die-casting and stamping are fully automated. Ma Lan, General Manager of Xiaomi Yizhuang Comprehensive Management Department and Political Commissar of Beijing Factory, told Global Times reporters that since its launch, industry insiders from all over the world, especially from major automobile industry countries, have come to the factory to exchange "learn from experience" and even sign orders and discuss cooperation on the spot. Feng Shiming said that the Chinese new energy vehicle market has become globally recognized as the most fiercely competitive, diverse in demand, and fastest in technological iteration battlefield. Therefore, some foreign car companies have turned their attention to China and actively entered with a "learning" mentality. This market is gradually evolving into a "cutting-edge testing ground" for global automotive electrification and intelligent transformation, and even becoming an innovative source for defining future travel directions. Helga Zepp Larush, founder and chairman of the German think tank Schiller Institute, admitted in an interview with Global Times that Germany and other automotive investors in China are benefiting from the innovation speed of China's industrial chain. More and more multinational car companies are beginning to see China as a key pivot to leverage global business, utilizing the technological advantages and manufacturing capabilities accumulated in China to feed back into the global market. Mercedes Benz Chairman Kang Linsong once said, "China is not only our second home, but also the core engine of global innovation. We are moving from 'in China, for China' to 'in China, for the world', and using local research and development to feed back the global system." When it comes to the feedback effect of the Chinese market, Wu Borui said that Volkswagen Group is constantly evaluating and strengthening China's new role in the global system, exploring how to build China into an export hub for more regions while meeting local market demands to a limited extent. In 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Development Plan for the New Energy Vehicle Industry (2021-2035)", which clearly proposes to promote the formation of an open, transparent, and inclusive international market environment for new energy vehicles and create a new platform for international cooperation, from bicycle sales to "whole family bucket style" output. Over the years, this plan has been transformed into tangible industrial momentum and global influence. Malan has a deep feeling about this. She shared an interesting phenomenon with the Global Times: the most common questions asked by foreign car company executives visiting Xiaomi's car factory now include supplier composition and domestic and international ratios, as well as how to quickly achieve full chain layout within three years. After visiting Xiaomi's automobile factory, many foreigners are very concerned about the question: "When will Xiaomi cars come to my country?" According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the annual export volume of new energy vehicles in China will soar to 3.43 million units by 2025. What is more noteworthy than numbers is the qualitative change: China's new energy vehicles are moving from a single "selling cars" to a "whole family bucket style" systematic output of "localized production by car companies and industrial chain collaboration". Feng Shiming introduced to the Global Times that Chinese new energy vehicle companies will officially enter the acceleration period of the 2.0 version of Haichao in 2025. While car companies are intensively implementing projects in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, their localization efforts in mature markets such as Europe continue to accelerate, achieving a dual line coordinated layout between emerging and mature markets. According to Reuters, BYD's new electric vehicle factory in Szeged, Hungary may begin large-scale production in 2026. The head of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, J ó sztvan, stated that BYD's choice of Hungary as the location for its European headquarters and research and development center will help promote the country's economic upgrade towards the "highest added value" direction. BYD in the upstream has arrived, Ningde Times in the middle and lower reaches has arrived, and companies such as EVE Energy and Xinwangda have also arrived. The map of China's new energy giants is gradually embedded into Hungary's industrial map. Nowadays, the Danube River, once a hub for automobile manufacturing in Central and Eastern Europe, is riding on the east wind of China's new energy industry chain to usher in a new round of electrification industry upgrading. In the eyes of industry insiders, the "whole family barrel" export of Chinese companies in Hungary not only fills the gap in the European supply chain and provides stable supply of new energy batteries for European car manufacturers, but also brings advanced manufacturing processes, "smart manufacturing" experience, and supply chain management models, directly reshaping Hungary's industrial foundation. More than 40 years ago, the first Sino foreign joint venture car company landed in Beijing, opening the ice breaking door for cooperation between China and foreign countries in the automotive industry; Nowadays, from the "in China, for the world" strategy of multinational giants to the comprehensive upgrading of Chinese enterprises going global, the stories of two-way rush in the Chinese new energy market all reflect a profound truth: cooperation is the correct answer to global challenges and industrial upgrading. Collaboration is the key to the future. Sun Xiaohong believes that China's insistence on opening up to the outside world, maintaining low tariff levels, emphasizing open cooperation and reducing administrative intervention, has created a "stable, sustainable, and predictable development environment" for Sino foreign cooperation. As China enters the 15th Five Year Plan period and further increases high-level opening up to the outside world, China has provided a list of opportunities for the common development of countries around the world. (New Society)