On October 28, CCTV reported that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on a state visit to China from October 27 to 31, opened his trip in Anhui, touring Hefei's Luogang Park to learn about the city's sustainable-development approach and visiting Volkswagen's R&D center in China, where he experienced a locally developed intelligent electric vehicle.
The visit to VW's Hefei center and the firsthand trial of a Chinese-market intelligent EV highlighted the deepening bond between the two countries' auto industries. Commentators noted that on the electrification and intelligence track, the space for Sino-German technology synergy is broad, boding well for the continued deepening of cross-border supply chains.
The episode arrived as German consumers themselves are warming to Chinese EVs: in Regensburg, about 20 Chinese new-energy vehicles gathered for an owners' meetup, with owners praising intelligent cockpits, software ecosystems and battery swapping that a German engineer said he now prefers for daily life.
The symbolism — a German head of state test-driving a smart EV co-developed with a legacy German automaker on Chinese soil — captures how the center of gravity in intelligent mobility is shifting.
Source: CCTV / Tencent News
