I. Industrial Layout and Development History: From Vehicle Assembly Base to Full-Chain Cluster
The Xushui automotive industrial cluster is centered around the Xushui Economic Development Zone (Dawangzhen Park), forming a spatial layout of "vehicle manufacturing as the core, component clustering as the foundation, research and testing as the support, and logistics services as the guarantee". After more than a decade of rapid development, it has transformed from a "manufacturing base" to an "industrial ecosystem".
(1) Development History: Building a Foundation for Ten Years, Three Levels of Leap Forward
1. Initial Foundation Establishment Period (2010-2015): The Xushui vehicle assembly base of Great Wall Automobile was inaugurated, with a total investment of over 30 billion yuan and an area of 13 square kilometers. It became the world's largest SUV vehicle manufacturing base, focusing on fuel vehicles such as Haval and WEY, laying the foundation for the cluster's core production capacity. At the beginning, there were less than 10 supporting enterprises, mainly providing basic components.
2. Chain Agglomeration Period (2016 - 2020): Leveraging the leading role of the Great Wall brand, the Great Wall International Automotive Parts Industrial Park was initiated. Targeted investment was made to attract world 500-strong companies such as Bosch, Autoliv, Lear, and Fuyao Glass, as well as domestic leading component suppliers. The number of core suppliers increased to 52, and the local component supply rate exceeded 50%, forming a "vehicle + core components" collaborative pattern.
3. Intelligent New Energy Transformation Period (2021 to Present): The cluster has fully shifted to new energy and intelligent connectivity. It has established core supporting enterprises such as HeCao Energy (battery power supply), Mande Electronics (wiring / electronic control), and Nuobo Automobile (interior decoration) under the Great Wall Group. In addition, it has also integrated external specialized and innovative enterprises. The upstream and downstream enterprises total 118. In 2024, it was selected as a characteristic small and medium-sized enterprise cluster in Hebei Province and became a core section of the national advanced manufacturing cluster for new energy vehicles in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
(II) Spatial Layout: One core leading, all areas collaborating
- Core Manufacturing Area (Dawangzhai Park): The first to fifth production plants of Great Wall Auto, the test site, and the component industrial park are all concentratedly located here. It covers an area of 28 square kilometers and can support a production capacity of 1 million vehicles and the entire manufacturing and testing process. It is the core of the cluster's production capacity and innovation.
- Supporting Industry Area: Surrounding the vehicle base, 42 core component enterprises are gathered, covering body, chassis, electronics, interior, and three-electric systems. A "5-kilometer supporting circle" has been formed, and the efficiency of logistics and supply chain is leading nationwide.
- R&D and Testing Area: It has the largest automotive safety crash laboratory in Asia and a 114,000-square-meter comprehensive test site (including over a hundred types of road surfaces), which supports the testing of vehicle performance, intelligent driving, and the three-electric systems of new energy. It is the core carrier of the cluster's technological innovation.
II. Full-chain Ecology and Cluster Characteristics: Leading by the Chain Master, Collaborative Efficiency
The Xushui Automobile Cluster is led by Great Wall Automobile, featuring a complete closed-loop of the entire chain, intelligent manufacturing, and a transition to new energy. It builds an integrated ecosystem of "vehicle - components - research and development - testing - logistics", forming a differentiated competitive advantage.
(1) Chain Master Leading, Core Production Capacity Outstanding
Great Wall Automobile is the absolute core of the cluster, contributing over 80% of the output. The Xushui base is its largest SUV and new energy vehicle production base, manufacturing models such as Haval, Weiqiao, Oola, and Tank, with the proportion of hybrid and pure electric models increasing year by year. In 2024, the capacity of new energy vehicle models will reach 45%, with one vehicle being produced every 20 seconds, and the annual production capacity is 1 million vehicles. It is one of the most efficient vehicle manufacturing bases in the world.
(2) Full-chain Supply Chain, Local Collaboration Efficiency
The cluster has formed a complete automotive industry chain loop: the upstream covers fibers, aluminum materials, and steel; the middle stream gathers 68 core supporting enterprises such as Bosch (braking / electronic control), Autoliv (safety systems), Hikvision Energy (battery), Mandev Electronics (wiring), and NoBo Automobile (interiors). The local supply rate is 68%, and key components (body, chassis, three-electric, electronics) are supplied nearby, with logistics costs 20% lower than the industry average, and the production cycle is shortened by 30%. Local specialized and innovative enterprises such as Fengfan Battery and Longda Aluminum have been cultivated, evolving from supporting followers to leaders in their respective fields.
(3) Intelligent Manufacturing, Leading Digitalization Level
The cluster comprehensively promotes the upgrading of intelligent manufacturing: the welding workshop of Great Wall Xushui Factory has 634 robots, with an automation rate of over 95%; the total assembly and painting workshops have achieved digital twins, intelligent scheduling, and quality traceability; Longda Aluminum and NoBo Automobile have been rated as provincial digital factories. The average annual output value per industrial worker has increased from 111,000 yuan in 2012 to 297,290 yuan in 2024, and the intelligent manufacturing level ranks among the top in county-level areas across the country.
(4) Dual-wheel Drive of New Energy + Intelligent Connectivity
The cluster has forward-looking plans for new fields: Hikvision Energy has set up production lines for non-cobalt batteries and sodium-ion batteries to support Great Wall's hybrid and pure electric models; it has laid out intelligent cabins, autonomous driving, and vehicle networking, and jointly developed intelligent driving solutions with Baidu and Bosch; the test site has opened intelligent connectivity test scenarios to create a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei intelligent driving demonstration base, achieving a strategic transformation from traditional fuel vehicles to "new energy + intelligent connectivity".
III. Core Strengths and Real Challenges: Strong Strengths, Bottlenecks to Be Addressed
The Xushui automotive cluster leads the way with four core advantages: chain leader, full-chain integration, regional policies, and intelligent manufacturing. However, it also faces challenges such as reliance on a single chain leader, innovation shortcomings, insufficient high-end talent, and homogenized competition. Transformation and upgrading are urgently needed.
(1) Core Development Strengths
1. Chain Leader + Full-Chain Synergy Advantage: The leading effect of Great Wall Automobile + a 5-kilometer supply chain circle, achieving efficient collaboration in R&D, manufacturing, logistics, and sales, with industry-leading risk resistance and cost control capabilities.
2. Location and Policy Advantage: Located in the core corridor of Beijing-Xiong'an-Baoding, about 50 kilometers from Beijing and Xiong'an, it is a transportation hub in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with logistics radiating across the country; enjoying multiple policy supports from Xiong'an New Area, provincial development zones, and the new energy vehicle industry, with complete land, tax, and talent subsidies.
3. Intelligent Manufacturing and Testing Advantage: Digital factories + national-level test sites, supporting efficient manufacturing and the verification of cutting-edge technologies, providing hardware guarantees for the transformation of new energy and intelligent connected vehicles.
4. Scale and Market Advantage: Annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles, 90 billion yuan in output value, leading domestic SUV market share, overseas exports covering 170+ countries, dual drive of domestic and foreign demand and trade.
(2) Main Challenges
1. Excessive Dependency on Chain Leader: Great Wall contributes over 80% of the output value, while most small and medium-sized supporting enterprises are mainly contracted for single customers, with weak ability to withstand market fluctuations and insufficient ecological resilience of the cluster.
2. Core Technologies and Innovation Shortcomings: Dependence on imports for vehicle-grade chips, high-end electronic control, and autonomous driving algorithms in core links, weak local original research and development capabilities, shortage of high-end R&D, algorithms, and software talents.
3. Unbalanced New Energy Transformation: Traditional fuel vehicle production capacity still accounts for a high proportion, localization of core components for new energy and intelligent connected vehicles is insufficient, and the proportion of high-end new energy vehicle models is low.
4. Low Capability of Small Supporting Enterprises: Most supporting enterprises are at the lower end of the value chain, with uneven levels of automation and digitalization, lack of brand and core technologies, and compressed profit margins.
IV. Future Transformation and Upgrade Direction: From Manufacturing Cluster to Innovation Hub
Facing the era of new energy and intelligent connectivity, the Xushui automotive cluster is accelerating its transformation towards strengthening supply chains, promoting innovation, fostering diverse ecosystems, and achieving green and low-carbon goals, aiming to become the core node of the world-class automotive cluster in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
(1) Strengthening supply chains and complementing them, building a diversified ecosystem
1. Conduct precise招商引资 activities around weak links such as the three-electricity system, intelligent cabins, automotive-grade chips, and autonomous driving, and introduce domestic and foreign leading enterprises and specialized "little giants" to increase the localization rate of core components to over 80%.
2. Cultivate local supporting enterprises, support companies like Fengfan and Longda to transform towards higher-end and more intelligent directions, develop production services such as third-party logistics, industrial design, and testing and certification, and reduce reliance on a single chain leader.
(2) Promoting innovation, conquering core technologies
1. Relying on the Great Wall Technology Center and test sites, build provincial/national automotive innovation centers, focus on key technologies such as batteries, electronic control, chips, and autonomous driving, promote industry-university-research collaboration, and break through "critical bottlenecks".
2. Promote digitalization upgrades of the cluster, build industrial internet platforms, achieve data exchange and collaboration among chain leaders and supporting enterprises, and flexible production, and create a digital twin factory cluster.
(3) Dual-wheel upgrade, deepening new energy and intelligent connectivity
1. Expand production capacity for pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen energy, promote expansion of companies like Huitao Energy and Man De Electronics, improve the full-chain support for new energy, and increase the proportion of new energy vehicle production capacity to over 70% by 2027.
2. Build an intelligent connectivity test demonstration zone, layout vehicle-road coordination and autonomous driving scenarios, promote the industrialization of intelligent driving technologies, and create a benchmark for intelligent vehicles in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
(4) Green and low-carbon, building a sustainable cluster
Promote green manufacturing, recycled materials, photovoltaic energy storage, build low-carbon/zero-carbon factories, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions; develop circular economy, promote recycling and reuse of components, respond to the "carbon neutrality" goal, and build a green automotive industry ecosystem.
The Xushui automotive manufacturing cluster is a model of "chain leader leading, chain clustering, and intelligent upgrading" in China's county-level manufacturing. From a single vehicle base to a full-chain ecosystem, from fuel-based manufacturing to new energy and intelligent connectivity, it has always been driven by innovation and collaboration. In the future, as the strengthening of supply chains, innovation breakthroughs, and green transformation are further advanced, Xushui will break away from single reliance, fill in technical gaps, and grow into the core engine of the world-class new energy and intelligent connectivity automotive cluster in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, providing a benchmark sample for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry in Hebei.
