Papers presented by Yuan Jia Zheng since 2019
2025 Atlanta, Georgia
"Creating China’s Leadership in the Energy Transition of the Automobile Industry: Industrial Policies and Sustainable Regulations"
Yuan Jia Zheng, Harvard Business School
Abstract:
China emerged as a global leader in the energy transition of the automobile industry, becoming the world’s largest market, manufacturer, and exporter of electric vehicles (EVs). In 2023 alone, 8.1 million new electric cars—representing 60 percent of global new EV registrations—were sold in China. Domestically, 25 percent of new registrations were EVs, far surpassing the 14.6 percent in the European Union and 7.6 percent in the United States. This paper argues that China’s success in vehicle electrification stems from competitive advantages built through persistent state intervention, flexible and coherent industrial policies with a long-term vision, and dynamic cooperation between public and private actors since the 1980s. The paper examines the crucial role of Chinese government plans and programs, such as the "Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles" project launched in 2009, as examples of China's socialist market economy model. This model enabled coordinated action at both national and subnational levels and fostered dynamic interactions between public and private sectors. State support for upgrading the automobile industry promoted heavy investment from both existing automakers and a surge of new EV manufacturers with core technologies competing at international standards. Therefore, China’s leap from lagging in internal combustion vehicle technologies to leading the global EV market further underscores the importance of a long-term strategic approach. In contrast, the EU struggled to create national champions through similar green policies. The rising tariffs on allegedly low-cost Chinese EVs entering Europe highlight tensions between the EU’s green goals and its protectionist responses to external competition. The findings unveiled significant implications for the sustainable development in the global automotive industry.
2022 Mexico City
"People’s Republic without People’s Car: China’s Automobile Industry Path (1953-2000)"
Yuan Jia Zheng, Universitat de Barcelona
Abstract:
Mao Zedong’s dream of having a national automobile industry came true in the early 1950’s, when the First Automotive Works was founded with the aid of its communist ally, the Soviet Union. Today China is one of the main world producers of cars and Chinese multinationals have an increasing international presence. This paper aims to establish the role played by the Chinese government in the internationalization process of this industry both before and after China’s joined the World Trade Organization. The hypothesis is that Chinese government intervention established a basis for cross-hauling direct investment in automobile manufacturing. To test this hypothesis answer, I study the interactions and dynamics of national and foreign players from 1953 to 2000 taking into account when and how foreign automobile manufacturers were given access to China’s domestic market. The results found confirm that development during the years of Maoism obeyed to central state strategies, in which passenger cars were given a purely symbolic share. In and after the mid-1980s, development strategies shifted as to respond market-oriented economic growth. In addition, foreign investment and technology were both transferred through newly constituted Sino-foreign joint ventures, which, despite the strict conditions imposed by Chinese authorities wanted to enter Chinese market. However, the arrival of foreigners has been persistent in the long run which followed by achievements in national output, laid down a technological dependence path that forced indigenous manufacturers to initiate international efforts even before they had accepted global market rules.