On the morning of the 22nd, at the second factory of the Chinese electric vehicle corporation Nio (Chinese name Weilai) in Hefei, Anhui Province, East China, I encountered a 'cube' that vertically stores up to 753 vehicles as soon as I entered and sends them to each line. The unique aspect is that there is no need to group vehicles by the same model. Traditional car factories typically concentrate on producing no more than about 10 models, but this facility handles a staggering 3,592,320 customized orders. Despite this, there were no concerns that work efficiency would decrease. This is because the intelligent manufacturing system 'Tiangong' manages production with precision from start to finish. Thanks to this, Nio promises to deliver vehicles 'within 14 days from order to shipment.'
It is hard to find a country that responds as forcefully as China to the tariff bomb the United States has dropped worldwide. When U.S. President Donald Trump added a total tariff of 145% on Chinese imports, China immediately retaliated with a 125% counter-tariff measure. Various factors are cited for China's confidence, including the ease of social control under the ruling Communist Party's one-party system and potential recession in the U.S. However, where China places its hopes is in advanced technology corporations like Nio. The plan is to change the very structure of existing industries to boost productivity and offset the impact of U.S. tariffs. Thus, these advanced technology corporations stand at the forefront of the U.S.-China conflict.
In this context, China is poised to accelerate its goal of becoming a science and technology powerhouse. Underpinning this ambition is the desire to dominate the global industrial landscape without being vulnerable to any country. I witnessed this recent quiet yet powerful industrial development of China's advanced technology in Hefei. Workers in the local advanced technology corporations were unanimously confident that 'we will succeed.'
◇ The glamorous transformation of traditional manufacturing... Cars made in 14 days and identifying defects by sound
Nio's second factory in Hefei spans 1.15 square kilometers (approximately 350,000 pyeong). However, only 2,000 employees are sufficient to operate the factory, thanks to an automation rate of up to 98%. A total of 941 robots are responsible for the body assembly process. Yang Yi, Nio's promotional director, noted, 'It takes 98 seconds to assemble four vehicle doors,' adding that 'the error for each assembly is controlled to 0.5 mm, achieving a quality pass rate of 100%.' As the car body arrives via the conveyor belt, five robotic arms from the German industrial robot company KUKA simultaneously rush in to attach the doors. KUKA, which holds a 10% share of the global industrial robot market, is part of the Chinese home appliance corporation Midea.
The striking transformation of Chinese manufacturing into a high-tech industry can be observed throughout Hefei. The National Intelligent Speech Innovation Center in this region conducts engineering research on technologies such as industrial artificial intelligence (AI) to support the industry. A representative example is the technology developed in collaboration with the leading Chinese voice AI corporation iFLYTEK (Chinese name Keshi Xuanyin). When a sound indicating a defect occurs, holding a tablet PC to that location reveals what the problem is. A center representative explained, 'It's similar to how a doctor uses a stethoscope to identify issues,' adding, 'If a problem is detected, the system directly reports it to the police, allowing employees to verify the issue based on that.'
iFLYTEK, headquartered in Hefei, is also integrating voice AI technology into various industries such as education, healthcare, and travel. This technology is essential for securing advanced technology talent. In education, school teachers use AI for automatic grading of student exams and employ large language models (LLM) capable of conversing with people in learning environments. During science class, for instance, students might discuss problems with an avatar modeled after Einstein. This necessitates technology that accurately recognizes human voices. Additionally, iFLYTEK possesses technology that can automatically translate dozens of languages and enable simultaneous interpretation. This significantly enhances talent development and global talent utilization efficiency.
◇ China's long-term weapon is advanced technology... 'The key to actively responding to the U.S.'
In the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, China reiterates that it is 'prepared.' Direct measures like counter-tariffs are seen as short-term means, while the long-term weapon is advanced technology. China has chosen to enhance manufacturing by adding advanced technology as a way to navigate around tariff impacts. By boosting industrial competitiveness, better products can be produced in larger quantities, and by selling these products globally, excluding the U.S., they believe they can expand the overall market.
The goal of becoming a science and technology powerhouse by 2035 conceals the intention of remaining unshaken not just by the U.S. but by any country. Since the emergence of visible conflicts with the U.S. last year, there has been a significant push to accelerate 'new quality productivity.' Unlike traditional productivity reliant on massive resource input, new quality productivity is driven by technological innovation. Liu Weibao, a standing committee member of Hebei Province, stated, '(U.S.) tariffs will impact our economy and trade to some extent, but with a major advancement in science and technology, the national economy and people's livelihoods will progress steadily,' stressing, 'this is the key to our ability to respond actively (to the U.S.).'
As advanced technology takes the forefront in the U.S.-China conflict, these corporations have become targets of U.S. sanctions, causing disruptions to various business operations. For instance, the electric vehicle battery corporation Gotion (Chinese name Guoxuan) based in Hefei has had its plans for a $2.4 billion factory in Michigan, initiated in August 2023, completely halted. This is due to deteriorating regional public sentiment as tensions with China escalated. iFLYTEK was early on the U.S. sanctions list since the first U.S.-China trade war in 2019. Other advanced technology corporations are also seeking alternative solutions due to restrictions on importing high-performance AI chips from the U.S.
Despite this, Chinese advanced technology corporations believe their country can seize the upper hand. Allen Xiong, Gotion's vice president of strategic operations, said, 'Innovation and patents are strengthening our advantages,' and he expressed confidence that 'customers will need our value.' Similarly, Duan Dawei, iFLYTEK's vice president, noted, 'China is becoming self-reliant due to the conflict with the U.S.' He compared this to how the pine trees growing on the cliffs of Huangshan showcase resilience and strength even under the worst growth conditions, stating that Chinese corporations will also put more effort into innovation in the current situation.