Since 2008, 12 separate sessions entitled “Automotive Regulations and Policies of Exporting Countries” have been held. Grasping the enterprise demands and hotspots in the automotive industry, the initiative has been strongly supported by various export bases and related enterprises, with enthusiastic response, becoming an important channel for Chinese automotive enterprises to keep abreast with foreign automotive market and technical regulations.
Gao Yang, Vice Division Chief of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out in her speech that the vehicle is one of China's important export commodities. According to customs statistics, from January to May this year, China exported 454,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%, with the export amount totaling US$6.03 billion. Despite a slight decrease of 3.1% in total amount, the export of self-owned brand vehicles, commercial vehicles, and new energy vehicles has grown rapidly, and the export structure and rotation of automotive exports have achieved solid initial results. She also pointed out that automotive export enterprises must keep pace with the changing situation, actively adjust their product structure and market layout, avoid trade and investment risks, and at the same time continue to strengthen their innovation drive, increase investment in research and development, promote the transformation of export scale from speed to quality, and cultivate new competitive advantages with technology, brand, quality, service, and standards as the core.
Cheng Kuiyu, Director of the Automotive Technology Information Research Institute (ATIRI), CATARC stated in his speech that information management in the automotive industry has always been one of the core tasks of ATIRI. Over the last 30 years, from the aspects of policy planning, investment access, energy conservation, environmental protection, scrap recycling, import and export, and internationalization, ATIRI has assisted the authorities in formulating and promulgating a number of important policies, which have effectively promoted the healthy development of China's automotive industry and greatly enhanced the influence of ATIRI in the domestic and global automotive industry. In the future, ATIRI will strive to build the first information institute in China, and in the world, providing technical support to the government and improving consultation service capacity and quality. Today, we are here to stage the conference and to share the latest trends in overseas markets and policy changes with the hope that export products can better meet the needs of target markets, product quality and service level can be continuously improved, and the high-quality development of China's automotive industry is promoted.
Li Lin, Executive Deputy Director of Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone Administrative Committee stated in his speech that the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone is a state-level development zone with advanced manufacturing and comprehensive industrial support. It has gathered more than 200 auto and parts companies on-site, with the headquarters of Dongfeng Motor included among operations located in this zone. Dongfeng Honda, Dongfeng Renault, Shenlong, Valeo, Wescast, Yachiyo, Jost and other foreign-funded joint ventures or wholly-owned brands have created an industrial cluster for self-owned and joint-venture automotive brands with significant development character. Under the strong support and guidance of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and CATARC, the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone has actively responded to trade conflict through the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade and strengthening of export base construction.”
In response to new changes in international trade and investment, and to drive the sustainable and healthy development of Chinese automotive product exports, ten Chinese and international experts were invited to this conference, from TÜV Rheinland, CATARC, the China ASEAN Automotive Standards and Regulations Research Center, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Great Wall Motor Company Limited, Tianjin CATARC-Luxcontrol Technical Service Co., Ltd., and other organizations and enterprises, introducing and elaborating on government policies, technical regulations, certification systems, and the latest in other changes in major export countries and regions that are Chinese automotive industry and parts markets, such as the European Union, North America, South America, ASEAN, and India.
Holger Huetz, Vice President of TÜV Rheinland Engineering & Type Approval, introduced the latest progress in the automotive industry and regulations in the EU. Sven-Olaf Steinke, General Manager of TÜV Rheinland Greater China Electrical, explained safety guarantees and risk ratings for vehicle power batteries. Mathias Maerz, Senior Manager of TÜV Rheinland Greater China Industrial Services, analyzed EU standards for electric vehicle charging systems. They provided frontier information and professional guidance from different dimensions, and put forward suggestions for the sustainable development of China’s automotive enterprises.
Today, new technical regulations and market supervision mechanisms are bringing unprecedented challenges to the development and quality management of the automotive industry. At the conference, Holger Huetz authoritatively interpreted the latest development of autonomous driving in the EU, from the aspects of the legal framework for autonomous vehicle, the regulatory approval of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE), and other hot topics in the industry. He also discussed and answered questions raised by the participants.
In recent years, with the continuous improvements in the endurance and performance of new energy electric vehicles, lithium batteries feature higher energy density and pose a greater danger of fire and explosion. In his keynote speech themed “Safety Guarantees and Risk Ratings for Vehicle Power Batteries,” Sven-Olaf Steinke compared the differences between the newly draft mandatory national standards and the safety standards worldwide for electrical vehicle battery, in hopes of the industry adopting the most stringent testing requirements to ensure product safety.
Based on this, Mathias Maerz interpreted the EU standards for charging systems of electric vehicles for the participants, covering charging system components such as plugs, sockets, vehicle connectors, and vehicle inlet, and introduced the combined charging system (CCS) in detail. “CCS is a general electric charging system which integrates the existing AC charging solution and ultra-high speed DC charging in one system,” he said, “and is an open international standard system for electric vehicles mainly driven by Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, GE, Porsche, and Volkswagen.” Maerz also stated that TÜV Rheinland is one of the core CharIN (Charging Interface Initiative) members of CCS, and is dedicated to establishing and developing CCS into a global charging standard for electric vehicles.
Sven-Olaf Steinke stated: “TÜV Rheinland’s technical services cover the upstream, midstream, and downstream spectrums of the whole energy industry chain, with extensive experience and professional insights into product quality, specifications and standards pertaining to energy storage, lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, new energy vehicles, charging equipment and facilities, and other segment fields, providing one-stop services for enterprises covering the whole industry and multi-fields, in an effective combination of cutting-edge experience overseas and the domestic market. Our goal is to become a leading provider of safety, quality, and environmental services and solutions in Greater China, and to contribute to the sustainable development of society.”
As a leading international third-party testing, inspection, and certification organization, TÜV Rheinland was also one of the earliest international certification bodies to enter the Chinese market. TÜV Rheinland continues to help Chinese enterprises grasp automotive market frontier information and regulatory trends worldwide. At the same time, building on its extensive industry experience and worldwide expert resources and service network, TÜV Rheinland has built a product testing and certification platform for Chinese manufacturers, and helped more and more Chinese enterprises “go global” smoothly through one-stop solutions. In particular, driven by the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” TÜV Rheinland has dedicatedly drawn a certification map for the BRI, extending from the GCC States and the Eurasian Economic Union to Australia, India, and Indonesia, with a view to helping Chinese enterprises grasp the development trends in trade laws and regulations among countries along the route, identify certification needs, properly deal with trade barriers, and drive the internationalization of China’s automotive industry.
TÜV Rheinland
TÜV Rheinland is a global leader in independent inspection services, founded nearly 150 years ago. The group maintains a worldwide presence of more than 20,000 people; annual turnover is EUR 2 billion. The independent experts stand for quality and safety for people, technology and the environment in nearly all aspects of life. TÜV Rheinland inspects technical equipment, products and services, oversees projects, and helps to shape processes
and information security for companies. Its experts train people in a wide range of careers and industries. To this end, TÜV Rheinland employs a global network of approved labs, testing and education centers. Since 2006, TÜV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption.
Website: www.tuv.com
