Expanding International Layout Under “Belt and Road Initiative”—BAIC Joins 2015 China-Arab States Expo

On September 10, the 2015 China-Arab States Expo (CASE 2015) was unveiled in Yinchuan, Ningxia. As the only exhibitor from the auto industry, BAIC Group showed up at the Exhibition for High and New Technology & Equipment of 2015 China-Arab States Expo with an array of high-tech products from its subsidiaries: BAIC International, BAIC BJEV and Beijing General Aviation Co., Ltd.

Since deepening overseas operations in 2013, BAIC has made great strides in its key promising overseas markets such as the Middle East, Mexico, South America and Africa.

In the first half of 2015, BAIC established its southern and northern export bases centered respectively in Zengcheng, Guangdong and Zhuzhou, Hunan, accelerated the brand promotion in markets such as Colombia, Azerbaijan and Egypt through events such as the Overseas Media Tour in China, and achieved significant breakthroughs in North Africa through events such as the 22nd Cairo International Motor Show, thus taking a firm step towards brand globalization.

While strengthening overseas sales and service network construction, improving distribution capacity and driving multi-business cooperation through vehicle, BAIC has extended the scope of international cooperation from vehicles and parts to fields such as overseas R&D, service trade, new energy vehicles and general aviation.

During CASE 2015, BAIC put the Segment-A family sedan A315 and the first high-performance recreational SUV X65 on display. With exceeding advantages in power, control, safety and economy, both representative models can satisfy various geographical requirements of Arab region once improvement of adaptability has been made.

Additionally, BAIC’s new energy vehicle industry has made significant achievements. A total of 72,711 new energy vehicles were sold in China just in the first half of 2015, which has surpassed the sales of 52,704 units in USA, making China the world’s largest new energy vehicle market. With sales of 6,223 units, accounting for 23.1 percent of the total sales of Chinese battery electric passenger vehicles, BAIC topped China’s battery electric vehicle sales list. On August 21, 2015, the first overseas R&D center of China’s new energy vehicle industry—BAIC Group Overseas R&D Center was established in Silicon Valley next to the industrial giants Google, Apple and Tesla. The center is a new independent R&D base and the world’s best resource integration platform for the in-depth development of BAIC’s new energy vehicle. It is reported that BAIC is working with Atieva, a US high-tech battery electric vehicle design company, to design and develop high-performance electric vehicles in the Silicon Valley.

At the Exhibition for High and New Technology & Equipment, BAIC also unveiled two star-level aircrafts: the P750 XSTOL multi-functional single-engine turboprop fixed-wing aircraft and the world-renowned AgustaWestland helicopter series (AW109, AW119, and AW139).

2015 saw the beginning of the national “Belt and Road Initiative” strategy. According to BAIC Chairman Xu Heyi, the strategy will provide superb opportunity and space for BAIC to go global and advance global business development. As a “Belt and Road Initiative” pathfinder, BAIC will fully employ the CASE platform to display China’s achievements in the two emerging industrial fields: new energy vehicle and general aviation, and deepen international exchanges and cooperation thus promoting the transformation and upgrading of the company, while achieving sustainable and green development.