Hefei, July 2 (Kong Lingyou, Chu Weiwei) The giant mechanical arms danced accurately, and intelligent robots moved orderly. At the bodywork station, four mechanical arms worked together, taking only a few seconds to securely install the four doors on the frame... In the production workshop of the Jianghuai Junjie Super Factory, the automated production line is working in an orderly manner.

A journalist from the China News Service recently visited this intelligent factory located in Hefei, Anhui Province. Wei David, the person in charge of the Junjie Super Factory, said that the production line of the factory is equipped with more than 1,800 intelligent robots, achieving full automation and digitalization of stamping, welding, and painting, while supporting intelligent flexible customization capabilities, enhancing the level of craftsmanship.

As the first 5G full-chain factory in the field of automobile manufacturing in Anhui Province, the Junjie Super Factory also cooperates with Huawei to build a digital twin system that is in real-time linkage with the physical factory. Li Ming, the general manager of Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd., said that this 'digital factory' collects 300,000 data points from the physical factory every second, which can analyze and iterate manufacturing technology, making the manufacturing system always new and self-evolving.

At the NIO factory located in Hefei, there are innovative achievements in automation and intelligent production. Here is the globally first 'Cube' vehicle storage and retrieval platform, resembling a super-large 'Catching the Teddy Bear' machine, which can realize batch pre-storage of body panels and on-demand retrieval of body panels for subsequent personalized customization. The body panels are easily and quickly caught, as if intelligent robots are 'catching teddy bears', accurate, stable, and fast.

On July 1, robots are working on the vehicle assembly line at the second advanced manufacturing base of NIO located in Hefei, Anhui Province. Photo by Chu Weiwai, Xinhua News Agency

Li Bin, the founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, introduced to the journalists the 'new three major pieces' of core intelligent vehicle technologies: intelligent driving chips, all-domain operating systems, and innovative breakthroughs on the intelligent chassis. In his view, these achievements are not only due to the continuous strengthening of core research and development investment by the company, but also离不开 the efficient integration of industry, university, research, and application within the region.

The continuous innovation of Jianghuai and NIO in the field of production technology is a microcosm of the overall leap of the new energy vehicle industry in Hefei. According to official data, the total output of vehicles in Hefei City in 2024 was 1.9116 million, of which the output of new energy vehicles was 1.376 million, a year-on-year increase of 84.4%.

Now, Hefei has become one of the regions in China with the largest scale and total volume of new energy vehicle industry, the most well-known brands, the strongest development vitality, and the most complete supply chain. It has successively cultivated more than 500 core parts and components enterprises such as Guoxuan High-Tech, Juyi Technology, Changqing Machinery, and Huittong Holding.

This achievement is closely related to Hefei's continuous improvement of the resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain, and the improvement of the industrial ecosystem. In the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone, more than 80 industrial chain enterprises have built a full-ecological system covering international brands, new car-making forces, and domestic brands, from power batteries to intelligent sensors, with tens of thousands of parts and components achieving efficient collaboration. Li Bin believes that Hefei has advantages in scientific and technological innovation, industrial aggregation, location, and catch-up development, providing a good development environment for auto companies including NIO.

On June 30, workers are working in the new energy power battery production workshop of Huateng (Hefei) Power Technology Co., Ltd. in Feixi County, Hefei, Anhui Province. Photo by Chu Weiwai, Xinhua News Agency

Wang Yang, President of Huateng (Hefei) Power Technology Co., Ltd., said, 'As a power battery system supplier, we provide support for upstream cell manufacturers and serve downstream vehicle manufacturers. After settling in Hefei, we have personally felt the competitive advantage brought by the complete industrial chain here.'

Attracted by a good environment, many enterprises have chosen to invest and develop in Hefei, and the new energy vehicle industry development ecosystem characterized by open collaboration and mutual benefit has been accelerating. Official data shows that in the first quarter of this year, a total of 80 new projects were added to the intelligent network-connected new energy vehicle industry chain in Hefei, with a number of iconic projects such as Autoliv, United Electronics, Volkswagen's second global research and development center, and others successively settling in.

According to the introduction of the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, in the coming years, Hefei will focus on the forward layout of new technologies and new products, strengthen in-depth industrial cooperation, and strive to build an internationally influential 'capital of new energy vehicles'. It is expected to form 2 to 3 whole vehicle enterprises with an annual output of 500,000 to 1 million vehicles by 2027, add 10 billion-scale parts and components enterprises, produce more than 2 million new energy vehicles, and achieve a cluster revenue of more than 700 billion yuan.