Jilin Province is pressing ahead with a deep transformation of its automotive industry. The province's 15th Five-Year Plan lists automobiles and parts as a 500-billion-yuan-level industry and explicitly calls for shifting traditional vehicle manufacturing to intelligent connected new energy vehicles. Changchun, the core city, has set a target of striving for new energy vehicles to account for 60% of its total vehicle output by 2030 and aims to build a world-class advanced automotive manufacturing cluster.
On July 13, 2026, a conference commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first vehicle of New China rolling off the assembly line and a forum on high-quality development of China's auto industry were held in Changchun. The forum highlighted four new characteristics of the sector: the development logic is shifting from 'scale wins' to 'quality leads'; competition is moving from 'single product rivalry' to 'system warfare'; key technologies have moved from 'overall lag' to 'overall leadership'; and market dynamics are transitioning from 'domestic competition' to 'global competition'.
In smart manufacturing, the FAW Jiefang J7 intelligent factory is highly automated, producing a heavy truck every 270 seconds. The factory uses digital screens for real-time production data, automated guided vehicles for logistics, and robotic arms for coordinated operations. Liu Huishen, assistant to the head of FAW Jiefang's commercial vehicle development institute, said the leap from J6 to J7 represents a move from domestic high-end heavy trucks to world-class quality. FAW Jiefang has now reached over 9 million units in cumulative production and sales, with operations in 115 countries.
Supply chain collaboration is also accelerating. The province's auto industry is centered on Changchun and extends to cities like Jilin, Siping, and Liaoyuan. Changchun hosts six FAW Group final assembly plants and 413 above-scale parts suppliers, with the industry scale nearing 500 billion yuan. On June 27 this year, the world's first industrial-grade quality inspection robot for wire harnesses, 'Quality Inspector,' was launched in Changchun. It uses a flexible seven-axis bionic arm and self-developed vision system to tackle quality checks for automotive wiring.
In the supporting sector, Jilin Chemical Fiber Group is advancing vehicle lightweighting with carbon fiber. In Siping, Jilin Shibao Machinery Manufacturing Co. plans batch production of steer-by-wire systems this year, following mass production of electric steering columns in 2022. Liaoyuan Shengyuan New Material Technology Co. focuses on high-end cover glass for vehicles, supplying FAW and other key enterprises.
Additionally, FAW has led 27 units to form a solid-state battery industry innovation consortium, with phased breakthroughs in key areas. Bijiebi Technology (Jilin) Co. has reduced brake-by-wire controller response time to under 80 milliseconds.
On regional coordination, the four cities in the Changchun metropolitan area—Changchun, Jilin, Siping, and Liaoyuan—have identified 22 corporate cooperation needs. At a matchmaking event in March 2026, 31 core enterprises presented and explored cross-sector paths like 'auto + optoelectronics,' 'auto + chemicals,' and 'auto + aluminum,' with several cooperation intentions reached on the spot. Changchun's auto zone has also mapped out a 2026 investment plan, targeting solid-state batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, high-efficiency electric drives, automotive electronics, and autonomous driving for attracting investment.
Seventy years ago, the first vehicle of New China rolled off the line in Changchun. Today, a new vehicle comes off the line there in under a minute.