China's auto industry: Develop through the wind and rain

In any country, the auto industry is an industry that is highly linked to other industries and as such, has great hearings on the whole national economy; China's auto industry is no exception.

Experiencing more than 50 years of trials and hardship, China's auto industry, which has made a great achievement, has become a pillar industry for the country.

In general, China's auto industry has so far experienced two development stages, and now it has graduated onto the third stage.

Construction Period: Born in the Poor and Undeveloped Situation

The country's auto industry construction period lasted from 1953 to 1978.

China's auto industry began in 1953, when the First Automobile Works (FAW) was set up in Changchun City of Northeast China's Jilin Province. The first vehicle, a Jiefang (Chinese for liberation) truck named by Mao Zedong, rolled off FAW's assembly line in 1956. During this period, the development of Chinese automobiles was smooth. The total output of the national automobile rose from 61 in 1955 to 22,574 by 1960.

However, affected by factors such as the "great leap forward" (a Chinese economic plan aimed at revitalizing all sectors of the economy, initiated by Mao Zedong, and which emphasized decentralized, labor-intensive industrialization), natural calamity, and the "Culture Revolution," the Chinese auto industry rose and fell indefinitely. In 1966, the total output of motor vehicles exceeded only 50,000.

Developing Period: See the Dawn

With the dawning of the reform and opening up, there were some big changes in China's auto industry. In 1984, the question of absorbing foreign investment and producing with foreigner partners was pushed to the forefront.

In January 1984, the first Sino-foreign joint venture of the Chinese automobile -- Beijing Jeep Corporation, Ltd., which went through the revitalization and decline of the reform in China's auto industry in the 19 years following this, was set up. Then China's automobile industry entered the first round of pooling foreign capital.

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, marking the second development period, China's auto industry grew steadily. A group of local manufacturers of light-and heavy-duty trucks emerged, and manufacture bases took shape including: FAW, the Second Automobile Works, China Heavy-Duty, South Auto, and others in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Shenyang (Northeast China).