Auto Valley to become Wuhan's sub-center

An aerial photo of WHDZ, which is expected to be a sub-center of Wuhan [Photo provided to en.whkfq.gov.cn]

The city of Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province has decided to build four sub-centers for its metropolitan goal of being home to up to 2 million residents. Authorities in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ) have said they are honored that the zone has become one of the city's sub-centers.

Founded in 1991, the zone has now collected eight whole-car firms and three home appliance manufacturers. But to ensure future industrial prosperity, sweeping product transformations are needed from "made at WHDZ" to "intelligent manufacturing at WHDZ" or "created at WHDZ".

In April this year, based on auto giant Dongfeng's global plan, the zone has laid out new energy and intelligent connected vehicle industrial chains and eco-systems. At the end of June, Dongfeng Voyah was officially launched, filling Wuhan's gaps in mid and high-end new energy vehicles.

WHDZ now is collaborating with Dongfeng to make new deployments in battery banks, autonomous driving and other frontiers.

A total of 403 major programs involving 1.2 trillion yuan ($187.2 billion) for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) have been on the agenda, and 197 of them are in the advanced manufacturing and modern service sectors. The zone hopes to run a 600-billion-yuan auto business within five years together with three 100-trillion-yuan sectors – new energy, new materials, and digital economy.

Boasting 165 billion yuan in economic aggregate and ranking first in the city in terms of per-capita GDP, WHDZ also seeks to strengthen its public services and supporting facilities to make itself a more hospitable place.

The main structure of the Tongji International rehabilitation center was recently roofed, and ISA Wuhan International School – a 1.6-billion-yuan project – was recently established. The school is scheduled to open to the public in September next year, and will increase student enrollment capacity in the zone by 4,000.

Over 20 billion yuan has been spent on transportation of the zone, and Junshan New City has been fulfilling its functions in government and business services by accelerating the construction of a government service center, an international convention center and an exhibition center.