China Hairlink is not a R&D company

During the period, there were no doubts about the fact that China Development Investment Co., Ltd. was established for three years without joint development. This company, led by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2008 and led by 12 vehicle companies within the United Nations, once placed too much hope on the auto industry.

Recently, the reporter had an exclusive interview with Zhang Renqi, president of China Friendship Investment Co., Ltd., and the person in charge. Zhang Renqi told reporters: "The company is not a research and development company and has never conducted joint development. The purpose of setting up a company with 12 companies was mainly to get BorgWarner to take the DCT core module to China to produce and change China's auto. The automatic transmission mainly depends on the import situation."

On September 8, Liu Wenzhong, general manager of BorgWarner Transmission Systems Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Bhd and BorgWarner, told reporters: “The expectations of the outside world for the company are too high. It is the introduction of core technologies rather than the enhancement of research and development capabilities, and the development of DCT R&D capabilities requires a long-term process that may take 8 to 10 years, and the second is to build a platform that allows shareholders to reduce the cut-in cost of DCT development. The purpose is gradually realized."

We can't blame the outside world for the high expectations of the company. This company led by the National Development and Reform Commission combined with domestic FAW, SAIC, Dongfeng, Chang'an, Chery, Geely and other companies established by almost all mainstream auto companies, under the banner of “joint research and development”, claiming to overcome the “China’s auto transmission A technical fortress." Such a strong lineup, such "aspirations, lofty goals", is it just to achieve "joint production"?

According to Liu Wenzhong, the plant at BorgWarner United Drive System in Dalian has completed the construction of the plant in April this year. Currently, the three production lines have been commissioned and trial production of small batches is underway.

â–  The pains of development The establishment of the China Development Association was a major event in the automotive industry in 2008 and even in the last decade. In a controversy, it was strongly promoted by the National Development and Reform Commission. In this regard, this newspaper had an exclusive series of reports.

Zhang Renqi told reporters that in early 2008, BorgWarner applied to the National Development and Reform Commission to establish a joint venture company in China, which attracted the attention of relevant officials of the National Development and Reform Commission. "Over the years, China's auto transmissions have mainly depended on imports. The annual import volume must be more than 10 billion yuan. If we can achieve the domestic production of automatic transmissions, we will be able to reduce the procurement costs of auto companies."

Based on this, the National Development and Reform Commission organized 12 companies, including FAW, SAIC, Dongfeng, Chang'an, Chery, Jinbei, Changfeng, GAC, Zhongshun, Jianghuai, Great Wall and Geely, to jointly invest in the establishment of China Development Investment Corporation. Among them, FAW and SAIC each take up 20% of the shares. Chang'an, Dongfeng and Chery each account for 10%. Except for 2% of the Great Wall and 3% of Zhongshun, the other 5 are 5%.

On the evening of November 25, 2008, China DF Investment Co., Ltd. and Borg Warner (China) Investment Co., Ltd. formally signed a joint venture agreement in Beijing. The ratio of Chinese and foreign shares is 34:66. At the signing ceremony, Zhang Guobao, the then deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, made it clear: "The joint development of DCT by China Development Partners and BorgWarner is to overcome the last technological bastion of China's auto transmission."

It now appears that "joint development" is only a beautiful promise. Zhang Renqi explained: “How can a foreign party share core technologies with Chinese companies?” At the same time, with foreign ownership of 66%, it has absolute control.

At present, Zhongshun is affected by the international financial crisis and is unable to secure itself. It officially withdrew from China Fatlian, and its 3% share was auctioned to Beiqi and Tianhai Electric. Beiqi’s share was slightly higher than 2%, and Tianhai’s shares were less than 1%. .

In addition, Qian Xiangyang, deputy general manager of China DF and deputy general manager of BorgWarner Transmission Systems, has already returned to SAIC. "At present, SAIC has not sent any successors. The money is also part-time." Liu Wenzhong said.

It is worth noting that Liu Wenzhong succeeded Zhang Wenchang as the general manager of BorgWarner Drive Systems last year. With regard to this cooperation, BorgWarner has also moved on.