CHINA is the most important market for Volkswagen AG (VW) and the German automaker will seek more cooperation opportunities in the country in the future, said Oliver Blume, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen AG.

In 2022, Volkswagen delivered more than 3.18 million vehicles in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong markets, among which 206,500 were new-energy vehicles, up 37.1% year on year, with the delivery of pure electric models up 68.2% year on year.

“We have a strong product lineup in China, such as Audi and Porsche, and we hope to continue expanding our product lineup, taking advantage of new technologies and developing new products,” Blume said.

Last November, Blume visited China with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and held important meetings with Chinese government officials to discuss future cooperation.

After the Spring Festival holiday, he scheduled another trip to China, visiting the cities of Changchun, Shanghai and Hefei this week. He hopes to gain a better understanding of the market and frontier technologies, and to gain new potential partners in the country.

In Blume’s view, it is not only the Chinese market that VW finds very important, but also the cooperation opportunities in China, especially in the high-tech and electric transformation sectors. At the end of last year, VW announced its partnership with Chinese automotive chip company Horizon Robotics.

“Such partnerships will become more and more important in the future, and working with partners will help us integrate into Chinese society more deeply,” said Blume.

In recent years, new-energy vehicle makers have been expanding their market share in China. Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that China’s new-energy vehicle production and sales reached nearly 7.06 million units and 6.89 million units, respectively, in 2022.

Blume said that in the next few years, Volkswagen will maintain its success in the fuel car market while focusing on the pure electric vehicle market in China.

Blume is also bullish about the Chinese economy in 2023. “The market situation will continue to change this year, and China will maintain positive growth. Especially in the second half of the year, the market will recover more strongly,” he said. (Xinhua)