Recently, the 26th China Beijing International Science and Technology Industry Expo opened. The picture shows visitors visiting a new energy vehicle at the Beijing Science and Technology Expo site. According to data recently released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the main economic indicators of the Chinese automotive industry showed a growth trend in the first half of this year, with the new energy vehicle market performing particularly well. The main indicators show a growth trend in passenger cars. From January to June, the cumulative production and sales of passenger cars reached 11.886 million and 11.979 million respectively, an increase of 5.4% and 6.3% year-on-year. Among the main types of passenger cars, the production and sales of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) showed double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. In terms of commercial vehicles, from January to June, the cumulative production and sales of commercial vehicles reached 2.005 million and 2.068 million respectively, an increase of 2% and 4.9% year-on-year. Among the main varieties of commercial vehicles, the production and sales of buses and trucks have shown varying degrees of year-on-year growth. In terms of trucks, the growth rate of medium-sized trucks is the most significant. In terms of buses, the growth rate of large and medium-sized buses is more significant. Recently, at the 2024 China Automotive Forum held in Shanghai, Xin Guobin, Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology, stated that in the first half of this year, China's automotive industry has made steady progress, presenting three major highlights: firstly, the sales of automobiles reached 14.047 million units, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. Secondly, the development of electrification has reached a new level, with sales of new energy vehicles accounting for 35.2% of total new car sales, an increase of 6.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Thirdly, the development of intelligence has embarked on a new journey. 20 cities have launched pilot projects for "vehicle road cloud integration", and 9 enterprises (consortia) have carried out pilot projects for intelligent connected vehicle production access and road traffic. The sales proportion of vehicles with combined assisted driving functions exceeds 50%. The relevant person in charge of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers stated that currently, industry competition is further intensifying, business pressure continues to increase, and the overall operation of the industry still faces significant pressure. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, favorable policies such as trade in and new energy vehicles going to rural areas will continue to be implemented, and the intensive launch of new products by enterprises will help further unleash the consumption potential of the automotive market and provide assistance for the industry to achieve stable growth throughout the year. The market share of new energy has steadily increased in the first half of the year, and the performance of the new energy vehicle market is particularly impressive. From January to June, the cumulative production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 4.929 million and 4.944 million respectively, an increase of 30.1% and 32% year-on-year, with a market share of 35.2%. "Over the past 10 years since the Association's statistics, by the end of June this year, the cumulative production and sales of domestic new energy vehicles had exceeded 30 million," said Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. From the perspective of segmented driving, compared with the same period last year, the production and sales of pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles all showed varying degrees of growth in the first half of the year. Among them, plug-in hybrid models sold a total of 1.922 million units in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 85.2%. It is worth noting that in June, the market share of new energy vehicles reached 41.1%, which is the first time that the market share of new energy vehicles in China has exceeded 40%, marking the rapid development and increasing maturity of China's new energy vehicle market. Fu Bingfeng, Executive Vice President of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, stated at the 14th China Automotive Forum that in the first half of the year, new energy vehicles continued their good development trend, and it is expected that the annual production and sales will reach 11.5 million units, making China the main battlefield for global competition in new energy vehicles. With the support of new energy vehicles, the market share of Chinese brand passenger cars has further increased. In the first half of the year, the sales of Chinese brand passenger cars reached 7.419 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23.9%, with a market share of 61.9%. In June, the sales volume of Chinese brand passenger cars reached 1.432 million units, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%, and the market share reached 64.6%, setting a new high in the first half of the year. Chinese domestic brands continue to increase their market share in overseas markets. In the first half of the year, domestic exports of new energy vehicles reached 605000 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%. Among the top ten companies in terms of vehicle exports in the first half of the year, BYD exported 207000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times; The Great Wall exported 202000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 62.6%; Changan exported 285000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 60.4%. This year, automobile exports are an important growth point, and related companies have done a lot of work in developing international markets. Some companies have also achieved rapid growth in the international market through long-term accumulation, "said Chen Shihua. Investing in building factories has become an important way for Chinese domestic brands to seize overseas markets. Taking BYD as an example, it has invested in building factories in multiple overseas regions such as Brazil, Hungary, and Thailand, and its new energy vehicle footprint has spread to over 400 cities in 88 countries and regions. Chen Shihua said that at present, China's automobile industry still faces many challenges in its overseas development. We should strengthen the international influence of our own brands and gradually move from a big automobile country to a powerful automobile country. He suggested actively fulfilling corporate social responsibility, assisting local development and construction, and continuously expanding overseas influence; Strengthen international certification cooperation, promote coordination of domestic and international standard mutual recognition, vigorously promote the construction of overseas industrial parks, and select key countries and regions to layout automobile industrial parks; Establish marketing networks in key countries and markets, and carry out centralized promotion of independent brand cars. (New Society)