Hongqi Innovation Tower. [Photo/Jilin Daily]

Changchun, the capital city of Northeast China's Jilin province, has been hailed as the cradle of China's automotive industry and is now busy promoting the high-quality development of its automobile sector.

In 2022, the GDP of the Changchun Automobile Economic and Technological Development Zone reached 101 billion yuan ($13.81 billion), surpassing the 100-billion-yuan mark for the third consecutive year.

The zone was ranked first in an evaluation of development zones in the province and 27th out of 217 national-level development zones.

In the first three quarters of this year, its GDP is expected to grow by 8 percent, while the value added by major industries will jump 9 percent.

China FAW NBD headquarters. [Photo/Jilin Daily]

The zone is home to major automobile manufacturers including FAW Hongqi, Jiefang, Bestune, Volkswagen, Sagitar, and Audi FAW. By 2025, China FAW aims to achieve an annual vehicle sales volume of over 6 million units. The development zone is set to become a world-class automotive smart manufacturing base with an output value of over 1 trillion yuan.

The 2023 China-Germany Automobile Conference will take place in the zone on Oct 17-19, bringing together some 1,000 participants, including representatives from companies, institutions, governments, and industrial agglomeration zones.

The conference will explore innovation and development in areas such as new energy, intelligent connected vehicles, new retail, digitalization, and supply chains, which are hot topics of the industry.

Since its launch in 2020, the zone has participated in organizing the China-Germany Automotive Conference for four consecutive years.

A production line of FAW Hongqi. [Photo/Jilin Daily]