Binhai New Area, a major auto manufacturing hub in north China, is accelerating its shift toward new-energy and intelligent connected vehicles, with new-energy vehicle (NEV) output jumping 38.2% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, according to a senior official speaking at the 2026 TEDA Auto Forum on September 19.
Zhang Guihua, deputy head of the Binhai New Area government, said the region has gathered more than 1,200 key auto companies, including FAW-Volkswagen, FAW Toyota, GWM and Geely, with total vehicle production capacity of 1.35 million units and an automotive supply chain output exceeding 180 billion yuan (about $25.4 billion). The area's industrial output value surpassed 1.1 trillion yuan (about $155 billion), ranking second among national-level new areas, according to Zhang.
The growth comes as Binhai pursues a dual strategy of innovation and market demand. On the innovation side, the region is leveraging its national chip innovation platform's automotive-grade laboratory, working with NXP and the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) to build a national-level SME cluster for automotive-grade chips, supporting digital upgrades across the R&D-to-manufacturing chain.
Smart infrastructure push
On the application side, Binhai is using the computing power of the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin and its open intelligent connected testing roads to optimize the vehicle-road-cloud-network-map coordination architecture. The area is also developing a human-vehicle-home ecosystem and exploring compatibility between smart terminal products and automotive applications.
Zhang said the 38.2% growth rate in new-energy vehicle production in the first half outpaced the national average by 30 percentage points. She did not specify whether the figure covers battery-electric vehicles (BEVs, pure electric cars) or includes plug-in hybrids and range-extenders.
Speaking at the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, Zhang invited domestic and foreign auto companies to invest in Binhai, promising improved expert and concierge-style services. The area aims to become a nationally influential intelligent connected new-energy vehicle powerhouse, she said, according to Gasgoo, which reported her remarks.
