On 1 November 2021, the 5th meeting of the China-Germany Steering Committee for Electric Vehicle Demonstration Cooperation was held by video conference. Ye Dongbai, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, and Dr. Klaus BONHOFF, Director-General of the Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, had an in-depth exchange of views on their development strategies for new energy vehicles, and the progress and future priorities of electric vehicle cooperation between the two countries.

 

DG Ye pointed out that 2021 is the first year for the implementation of China‘s 14th Five-Year Plan, which presents both new development opportunities and challenges for the new energy vehicle industry. The development of new energy vehicles is an important means to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality. China-Germany cooperation on new energy vehicles has traversed a journey of more than ten years. Under the framework of Strategic Partnership on Electric Vehicles, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the German Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure have signed three joint statements to encourage and support joint research and interactive demonstration cooperation between the science communities in the fields of electric vehicles and infrastructure. The China-Germany Electric Vehicle Innovation Support Center (SGEC), a cooperation platform jointly established by the two sides, has produced positive results. Looking ahead, Director-General Ye proposed four suggestions on bilateral cooperation, and expressed hope for the two sides to take the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2022 as an opportunity to provide platform, support and services for cooperation between researchers, promote healthy and sustainable development of the new energy vehicle industry in both countries, and take bilateral cooperation to a new and higher level.

 

DG Bonhoff gave a positive response to the views and suggestions made by the Chinese side, noting that China-Germany cooperation on electric vehicles has achieved progress in the past decade, raising the share of electric vehicles in mobility services and markets in both countries and making positive contributions to sustainable mobility. DG Bonhoff also proposed areas of cooperation in the next phase, and encouraged the two sides to explore new models of cooperation, expand the scope of cooperation on the existing basis, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between enterprises, universities and research institutions, and shift the automotive industry into electrified, intelligent and low-carbon development.

 

During the meeting, the participants were briefed on the policies and trends of new energy vehicle development in the two countries, the work report of SGEC, and the cooperation results of two signature projects, i.e. “Cooperation on Regulations,Codes and Standards(RCS) for Hydrogen Electromobility with Germany“and “Research on the  Charging Infrastructure Optimization Based on scale Application of Electric Vehicle”.

 

Deputy Director-General Zhao Jing of the Department of International Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, diplomats from the Science and Technology Division of the Chinese Embassy in Germany and the Transport Division of the German Embassy in China, and representatives of Chinese and German experts, a total of nearly 50 participants attended the video conference.