An employee works at a production line of new energy vehicles in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, March 8, 2021. Liuzhou is a famous automobile industrial base. In recent years, local new energy automobile industry has seen vigorous development.Photo:Xinhua

A dozen centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in various industries have set up a platform for making breakthroughs in auto technologies that are vulnerable to external risks, according to media reports on Thursday.

The SOEs established the innovation platform for automotive digital transformation in North China's Tianjin, under the guidance of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, China Media Group reported.

An official from the SASAC said that by 2025, the platform will push the auto sector to make breakthroughs in leading-edge technologies, solving technology bottlenecks across the industry.

"This digital platform, created by SOEs in different fields, will lead the domestic automobile sector to achieve independent control of key technologies as well as reducing dependence on foreign technologies," Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The 12 SOEs involved are leaders in different fields, including major telecom carrier China Telecom, the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, carmaker FAW Group and China South Industries Group.

Cong said that smart cars will dominate the automotive industry in the future, and the "Internet of Vehicles" is a vital digital platform for smart cars.

He added that Tianjin, as a major national center for big data, has a rapidly developing digital industry, which could offer support for automotive digitization. 

Digital capability will become a new, necessary cornerstone for enterprises in the auto sector, as well as an important part of creating new competitiveness, analysts noted.

According to Alibaba Cloud Research Center, by the end of 2021, 70 percent of innovation in the auto industry will come from the restructuring of digital technologies.

The broad application of cutting-edge technologies, including cloud computing, 5G and autonomous driving, has promoted the development of digital technologies in the auto industry. 

Many auto companies have improved their digital services for customers. On Sunday, Chinese artificial intelligence firm SenseTime signed a cooperation agreement with Chengdu-based car service company Luxingtong covering detection algorithms for motor accidents, which will be used to ensure the safety of drivers and reduce rescue times.

Global Times