Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

For decades, foreign carmakers brought technology and branding while local partners in China provided factories and a market, but that relationship is changing, the BBC wrote in a recent report on China's automobile industry. The article reflects one strand of Western media thinking on China's electric vehicle (EV) sector. While some of its interpretations may not fully capture the complexity of the market, the broader shift it identifies deserves attention.

According to BBC, some global carmakers are expanding research operations in China or exploring production of Chinese-designed vehicles in overseas factories - using local talent and knowledge for development rather than simply manufacturing.

The backdrop to the shift described by the BBC is the rapid development of China's EV industry. This pace is not a matter of accumulating production capacity, as some Western observers suggest in arguments that point to "overcapacity," but rather one driven by rapid technological innovation.

Over the past decade, China has maintained a global leading position in the number of published automotive-related patents, far surpassing the US, Japan, Europe, and other countries and regions, CCTV News reported on May 17. In the field of new-energy vehicles (NEVs), the number of published patents increased from more than 50,000 in 2016 to 110,000 in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 17.1 percent.

Batteries are one area where this technological progress is particularly visible. Over recent years, China's power battery industry has moved from broadly keeping pace with international peers to a more prominent position in several segments, with gains in both cost and performance. According to a report by the International Energy Agency released last year, China leads in the uptake of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

A series of rapidly advancing technologies and new applications has created a powerful momentum behind the development of China's EV industry. It is precisely this technological drive that has underpinned the sector's swift growth.

In the 20th century, several Western economies developed capabilities in automobile production and built positions in global markets. By comparison, China's vehicle industry is a relative latecomer. Today, latecomers have joined the leading group, propelled by technological progress. This shift calls for a reassessment among some in the West who remain attached to older assumptions about the industry. It serves as a reminder to adopt a peer perspective - abandon the arrogance of viewing themselves as the masters of the automotive industry, and instead regard China's rapid development in the sector on genuinely equal terms.

It is unlikely that Western counterparts will be able to halt the development of China's EV industry, whatever policy tools are deployed, including trade protectionism. A more pragmatic approach would be to regard Chinese automakers on equal terms, allowing for mutual learning, and to deepen cooperation alongside competition.

Some in the West may ask whether cooperation and competition can coexist. To address this question, it is worth looking at the operations of foreign carmakers in China. Competition on the ground is intense. Foreign firms operating in China are closer to their Chinese peers and have a deeper understanding of local companies than many of their counterparts at home. Their choices are increasingly pointing toward greater collaboration with China's industrial ecosystem, in turn enhancing their own capabilities.

According to media reports, a number of foreign-funded automakers are increasing their research and development (R&D) investment in China, establishing full-process R&D centers at a scale that rivals or even exceeds their headquarters outside China, with a focus on cutting-edge technologies such as chips and autonomous driving. Joint ventures are also actively integrating into China's local industrial ecosystem. For example, some new models from multinational automakers have been integrated with Chinese artificial intelligence large-language models.

Across multiple dimensions, cooperation between foreign carmakers and China's industrial ecosystem is deepening. This reflects a pragmatic choice in the face of intense competition. Such collaboration is taking place in China - the front line of the most intense competition in the EV sector - and is set to extend beyond the country. It suggests that cooperation amid competition is feasible, mutually beneficial, and a practical response shaped by market pressures.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn