00-billion-yuan automobile industrial chain to be built in Hangzhou Bay

The Hangzhou Bay Testing Base of China Automotive Technology & Research Center was put into use on the morning of December 28, marking the completion of a key link of the overall industrial chain for automobiles at Hangzhou Bay New Zone, providing more technological and service support for the 100-billion-yuan automobile industrial base.

China Automotive Technology & Research Center is the only specialized automobile technological unit and a technological support institute governed by the governmental departments concerned. In November 2011, the Administration Committee of the new zone, China Automotive Technology & Research Center, and Ningbo Municipal Inspection and Quarantine Bureau signed the three-party cooperation agreement to construct the new project at Hangzhou Bay New Zone.

As the "golden project" of the post-automobile service market of the new zone, the testing base, with a total investment of over 500 million yuan, is the second largest base only next to the headquarters in Tianjin. With the first-class equipment and technology, the base can undertake the compulsory whole-vehicle examination, whole-vehicle shaping, testing of the electromagnetic compatibility of the automobile and parts as well as other electronic systems, testing of the car energy conservation and emission reduction, testing of lighting and electric appliances, crash testing, and testing of key parts and components. The project makes it possible for the over 3000 automobile enterprises in Ningbo to receive the product testing services "at the door".

Car and key parts industry is one of the major industries during the 12th Five-year Plan period, and 394 cart parts enterprises have realized an annual turnover of 20 million yuan in 2014. Over 100 car parts manufacturers have settled down at the Hangzhou Bay New Zone, including such Fortune 500 enterprises as Faurecia (France), Johnson Controls (the US) and Visteon (the US).

Witnessing the improvement of the industrial chain at the new zone, Feng Qingfeng, Vice-president of Geely Holdings is impressed. He said that the annual testing fee for the company exceeds 100 million yuan, and in the past they had to send their cars to Tianjin or Shanghai for testing, and sometimes there were long queues. "Now, our suppliers and our company can save plenty of time and money."

The overall industrial chain of the automobile base promises to promote the development of the related industries in Ningbo and even the whole Eastern China area. Since the beginning of 2014, great progress has been made. In May, the second phase of the Shanghai Volkswagen project settled and started. In June, the Shanghai Automobile Industrial Development Foundation was established. In August, China Geely-Volvo Design & Testing Center was put into construction. In September, the Hangzhou Bay Automobile College began its first semester. With a series of projects like those, the automobile industrial chain of the new zone has improved, and the total output value of the automobile industry hopes to exceed 100 billion yuan in 2015.

LINK:	http://en.nbwh.gov.cn/art/2015/1/5/art_1325_64448.html...
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