Editor's note:
The reconstruction of the global industrial chain and supply chain is accelerating, and the China New Observation column of Chinanews.com launched a series of reports on "Great Powers and Strong Chains" to gather wisdom from all parties for supply chain reform and industrial security development.
Chinanews.com, November 30th (China News Finance and Economics Ge Cheng) "China's auto industry chain and supply chain are facing a 'triple threat', which has brought a severe test to the auto industry." Deputy Chief Engineer and Industry Xu Haidong, director of the research department, said in an exclusive interview with China News Finance that auto manufacturers should take the lead and work with parts supply companies to continuously improve the stability and security of the "double chain" by building an overall ecology.
The stability and safety of the "double chain" of automobiles is facing a "triple threat"
The total production and sales volume of automobiles in China has been ranked first in the world for 13 consecutive years, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles have also maintained the first place in the world for 7 consecutive years.
Such a huge market size has attracted global auto industry chain companies to rush to China.
Xu Haidong said that China is the best single market in the world, with convenient transportation and relatively good industrial foundation. The layout of the global automobile industry chain in the Chinese market means that it can obtain lower costs.
On a global scale, the importance of China's auto industry chain and supply chain is self-evident.
At the same time, he pointed out that while the "double chain" of my country's automobiles is developing rapidly, stability and safety are also facing "triple threats."
First of all, affected by the severe global economic situation, Cold War mentality, and carbon tariffs, China's auto industry chain and supply chain are facing transfer risks.
Secondly, the core technology is controlled by others, and the automobile industry chain and supply chain are facing the problem of "lack of core and soul".
"Key chips and underlying software are the basis for the security of the automotive industry chain and supply chain. If they are not fully controlled, they are in the hands of others, and there is no such thing as security."
In addition, the shortage of key raw materials and price increases have plagued car companies in the industry chain and supply chain.
For example, in the past two years, battery-grade lithium carbonate has risen from 50,000 yuan per ton to nearly 600,000 yuan per ton, and the upward trend is still continuing.
"Nickel, cobalt, and lithium are the core raw materials for lithium batteries for new energy vehicles, and there are not many of them in China."
How to ensure and improve the stability and safety of the "double chain" of automobiles?
Xu Haidong introduced that as a typical industrial product, the quality and production cost of automobiles are restricted by scale.
At present, automobile companies have basically adopted the globally accepted "lean production" mode, which has the characteristics of just-in-time production, less spare parts in stock, and low capital occupation.
In the overall manufacturing industry, it has the advantages of low cost and good quality.
"However, this production method has extremely high requirements for the stability and safety of the industrial chain and supply chain." Xu Haidong said that a car has tens of thousands of parts, and even if one is missing, it will not work.
Affected by the epidemic and other factors, in April this year, the automobile industry chain and supply chain experienced a short-term "shutdown", which directly caused the national automobile production and sales to be almost "cut in half" during the same period.
The "double chain" change has brought a very severe test to the automotive industry.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council jointly issued the "Notice on Consolidating the Upturn and Reinvigorating the Industrial Economy" and proposed to establish a coordination mechanism for normalizing and stabilizing the industrial chain and supply chain in response to the impact of major emergencies, focusing on key areas, Key industries and key enterprises should strengthen inter-regional and upstream-downstream linkages.
Xu Haidong said that in the process of improving the stability and security of the industrial chain and supply chain, the interaction between car companies and parts supply companies is very important, and the stability and security level of the "dual chain" should be continuously improved by building an overall ecology.
He said that at present, car companies are increasing their inventory appropriately, and the production method has changed from "just in time" (just-in-time production) to "just in case" (determining production according to the status of inventory parts). At the same time, car companies are beginning to choose The industrial chain and supply chain are created by way of regional layout to slow down the sudden impact of logistics and supply.
The above-mentioned notice also proposes to strengthen the supply guarantee and collaborative reserve of key raw materials, key software, core basic components, and components, and coordinate the promotion and application of automotive chips, technological breakthroughs, and production capacity enhancement.
In this regard, Xu Haidong believes that automobile manufacturing enterprises should play a leading role, and enterprises involved in upstream and downstream supply should cooperate with automobile enterprises in research and development, and continue to train talents to tackle key problems.
In terms of ensuring the supply of key raw materials, it is necessary to plan at the national level, formulate corresponding policies, coordinate the exploitation of raw materials, limit speculation and other behaviors, and maintain price and supply stability.
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