As the world’s largest country by population and second-largest economy, China is embarking on a dedicated effort to become a leader in the emerging electric vehicle market. Hundreds of manufacturing firms in China seek to take advantage of the vast national investment directed at renewable energy and battery storage technology. This also motivates China to capitalize on metal resources necessary for launching the electric vehicle industry.
In 2015 Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the “Made in China 2025” initiative, a ten year state-led policy to prepare China’s manufacturing base to be strongly competitive in the future global economy. Sponsoring companies that are making electric vehicles is a component of this plan. The Wall Street Journal recorded that there were 487 electric car manufacturers in China in 2018.
“This (large number of firms) is inevitable, because whenever there is an emerging technology or emerging industry, there must be a hundred schools of thought and a hundred flowers blooming,” explained Zhou Xuan, general manager of Automagic; a Hangzhou based electric vehicle designer.
One of these startups, Singulato, attracted foreign interest earlier this year when Itochu Corp (ITOCY: NASDAQ), a Japanese trading house, invested $9 million into the company.
The deal is expected to open the door for Singulato to cooperate with Japanese automakers as they work to keep up with production quotas for electric cars in China. The world’s second-largest semiconductor manufacturer, Intel, also owns a small stake in Singulato.
For the rest of this article: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/technology/electric-vehicle-manufacturing-china-metals