Gasgoo | Sept. 19 — 2026 International Forum(Teda) on Chinese Automotive Industry Development kicked off its high-level insight session, themed "Smart Transformation, Green Upgrade, and a New Auto Ecosystem." Dong Yang, chairman of the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance and vice chairman of the China EV100, took the stage to chart the industry's next chapter. In his keynote — "New Directions for the Auto Industry Through the Lens of the 15th Five-Year Plan for Intelligent Connected NEVs" — he laid out his views across seven pillars: high-quality development, tech roadmaps, sector integration, curbing cutthroat competition, overseas expansion, and broader opening-up.
Image credit: 2026 TEDA Forum
Dong Yang argued that the 15th Five-Year Plan period must steer the industry toward high-quality, regulated growth. Brash talk of "savage" disruption or "overthrowing" the old guard should fade, along with the radical expansion mindset behind it. He sees the plan's NEV penetration targets — 70% for passenger vehicles and 40% for commercial vehicles — as deliberately conservative, likely to be eclipsed by market forces. The intent, he explained, is to keep the sector from blindly chasing sky-high numbers.
China's auto sector has moved from catching up to leading the pack in many domains, venturing into technological uncharted territory. That makes foundational and shared technology research all the more vital. Dong Yang warned companies to align R&D with their own product roadmaps rather than chase hype — the entire industry shouldn't pile into the solid-state battery lane, for instance. He also pushed back against the dogged pursuit of full-stack in-house development. Tesla’s do-it-all approach was born of a specific era; China’s supply chain ecosystem is different. Automakers, he argued, should forge strategic alliances with top-tier suppliers instead of simply racing to the bottom on price.
On the industry's cutthroat price wars, Dong Yang urged companies not to be the ones sparking the race to the bottom. The better play is to stabilize pricing and shore up supply chains. As for the government, he suggested it can temper the worst of the frenzy through tighter oversight of payment terms, subjective real-vehicle evaluations, blind benchmarking surveys, and stricter financial and quality audits.
Turning to overseas expansion, he called for building global supply chains guided by the vision of a community with a shared future — not viewing foreign markets purely through a lens of trade confrontation. The further the industry advances, he argued, the more it must open up. Going global is far harder than inviting foreign players in. China's expansion isn't about wrecking other nations' industries; it's about exporting Chinese solutions and seeking shared growth.
