The World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference (WICV) opened in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town) on Oct 17, the first time that this event has been held in the area.

In recent years, Beijing E-Town has developed as a leader in the automotive industry. In addition to five major vehicle brands -- including Mercedes-Benz, Xiaomi, ARCFOX, STELATO and Jiyue -- multiple prominent enterprises in autonomous driving have also settled in the area.

In 2023, the automotive industry achieved a production value of over 200 billion yuan ($28.13 billion), accounting for 56 percent of Beijing’s automotive industry.

"When it comes to the development of ICV, one must look at Beijing E-Town,” said Xin Keduo, deputy director of the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle Innovation Center.

As China's first national ICV manufacturing innovation center, the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle Innovation Center in the Beijing E-Town has established 22 laboratories and one pilot production center, with complete technical testing and verification capabilities and is filling the gaps in the ICV field.

In the future, Beijing's E-Town intends to further focus on industry development trends and core technological breakthroughs, driving the industrial cluster towards an upgraded industry innovation ecosystem with mobile intelligent terminals, energy storage units and digital spatial structures.

By 2027, the annual output value of the ICV industry cluster in Beijing E-Town is expected to exceed $42 billion.