June 11 - Changchun, the northeastern Chinese city that hosts FAW Group's headquarters, has issued a draft plan extending to 2030 that outlines a comprehensive effort to remake its decades-old automotive cluster and to draw major electric-vehicle players to the region.
The plan, published earlier this week by the city's industry and information technology bureau, sets out an aggressive view of industry restructuring. It projects a significant consolidation of China’s domestic auto sector, forecasting that the number of automaker groups will shrink to roughly 15 by 2030 from the current total of 71.
Within the draft, officials highlight the recent downturn in FAW Group's production and sales performance. That deterioration is described as raising the prospect of restructuring pressure on FAW, the state-owned automaker headquartered in Changchun.
Changchun intends to leverage FAW's local presence as an anchor to attract strategic partners. The city specifically names Leapmotor as an example of a potential collaborator to bring new vehicle models into the local production pipeline, using the FAW base as a foundation for renewed model introductions.
Beyond partnerships built around FAW, the draft expresses clear ambition to recruit high-growth automakers. It identifies BYD and Xiaomi as target companies for setting up northern production bases, establishing smart vehicle research and development centres, or investing in key component projects to broaden Changchun's industrial base.
The measures outlined in the draft converge on two objectives: consolidate and strengthen the local industry structure, and diversify the industrial mix through new entrants in EV manufacturing and smart-vehicle technology. The plan treats the presence of established assets in Changchun, notably FAW's headquarters, as a strategic advantage for those aims.
Local officials frame the initiative as a response to shifting market dynamics across the auto sector and as a way to reposition Changchun for the electric-vehicle era. The draft contains both targets for the number of automaker groups and specific company types the city hopes to attract, while also flagging the recent operational weaknesses at FAW as a driver for potential restructuring.
Impacted sectors: automotive manufacturing, electric-vehicle supply chain, smart-vehicle R&D, and regional industrial development.