On April 24, a few days before the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the 4th "Belt and Road" International Forum hosted by Phoenix TV was held in Beijing. The theme of this forum is "SDGs on Belt & Road". Hundreds of representatives of international organizations, senior executives of enterprises and the government participated in the event to discuss the development mode and overseas expansion experience of Chinese enterprises in the process of practicing the "Belt and Road" Initiatives. During the event, Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motor Company Limited, together with Liang Guining, Director of the Institute of Foreign Investment and Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, Fang Qiuchen, President of China International Contractors Association (CHINCA), Wu Zhong, Secretary-General of the Finance Center for South-South Cooperation and other leaders and guests attended the event and discussed the way for Chinese enterprises to promote sustainable development through globalization.

The 4th "Belt and Road" International Forum hosted by Phoenix TV 

At the forum, Chairman Wei Jianjun shared the experience and achievements of Great Wall Motors in practicing the "Belt and Road" Initiatives in recent years with the guests present and received a high appraisal. The guests believed that Great Wall Motors, as the leader of China's independent brand car makers, not only fulfilled its benchmark role as a leading company in the industry, but also brought new inspiration to the development of China's automobile industry in promoting the "Belt and Road" Initiatives .

Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motors

In Wei Jianjun's view, if a brand wants to succeed, it must become an international brand. In their way of going out, Chinese enterprises must take building valuable international brands as their ultimate goal. Chinese automobile enterprises are even more duty-bound.

In order to achieve the goal, Great Wall Motors has begun to make efforts since 1998. Relying on its SUV products and pickup truck products, it has achieved an aggregated sales volume of 600,000 units in overseas markets, thus making it stand among top Chinese brand cars. Particularly in 2018, 46,995 vehicles were exported in the whole year, up 20% on year on year basis. At present, HAVAL brand of Great Wall Motors maintained the sales title among China's SUV brands in 32 markets of the 52 countries in the world. Great Wall pickup has ranked first in China's pickup truck brands for 21 consecutive years in terms of exports.

Great Wall Motors KD plant in Malaysia

Undoubtedly the global development of Great Wall Motors has achieved initial success. Wei Jianjun believes, Great Wall Motors has developed in the fastest speed on its track of globalization since the launch of the "Belt and Road" Initiatives. Great Wall Motors has made great progress in overseas markets since China proposed the "Belt and Road" Initiatives in 2013. At the same time, Great Wall Motors is also actively engaged in its production and R&D in countries involved in the "Belt and Road" Initiatives. It has established KD plants in countries involved in the "Belt and Road" Initiatives such as Malaysia, Ecuador, Tunisia and Bulgaria, and a global R&D layout with China headquarters as the core covering Europe, Asia and North America.

Great Wall Motors KD plant in Ecuador

Great Wall Motors established the first full-process plant of Chinese auto companies in overseas markets

At this forum, Wei Jianjun said that Great Wall Motors' first full-process vehicle manufacturing plant in Tulskaya Oblast, Russia, which was China's first of its kind, will be officially put into production in May this year. Such a layout is not only an important step in the global layout of Great Wall Motors, but also a model for other Chinese automobile enterprises in going global.

Great Wall Motors' plant in Tulskaya Oblast, Russia

As one of the most important overseas markets of Great Wall Motors, HAVAL brand is the best selling Chinese brand in Russia with a year-on-year growth of 201% in terms of the sales volume in the first quarter of this year.

Wei Jianjun said that Great Wall Motors has sold 120,000 vehicles in Russia, and there is still a great market potential in the future. In the process of "going global", importance should not only be attached to the sales volume, but also to the value brought to the local area. The establishment of Great Wall Motors' plant in Tulskaya Oblast, Russia is of great significance to all stakeholders. On the one hand, Russia will become the breakthrough point for Great Wall Motors to expand in the Eastern European market. For the local government, the plant can not only stimulate the local economic development, increase taxes income, but also promote local employment. At present, the plant has employed more than 700 Russian employees, and will expect to provide 4,000 new jobs for the local area in the future.

Great Wall Motors' sales outlet in Krasnodar, Russia

The completion of Great Wall Motors' plant in Tulskaya Oblast has further proved that the "Belt and Road" Initiatives made by China not only promote the export of products made in China, but also realize the all-round win-win cooperation in the fields of technology, brand, manufacturing, market and operation.

Overall globalization helps enterprises to develop in a sustainable way

At present, sustainable development has become a problem that Chinese enterprises must confront in the process of development. For enterprises in Great Wall Motors' scale, globalization is the only way to development in a more sustainable way.

Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motors interviewed by Phoenix TV

Wei Jianjun believes that the globalization of Chinese enterprises is not simply to "go global", but to be linked to the transformation of China's economic structure, to realize the integration of resources through foreign investment, and to promote the organic interaction and combination of external resources and the domestic economy. In the international development of Chinese enterprises, they should not only export products and technologies to to the overseas markets, but also spread Chinese culture and concepts, and absorb the cultures of various fields and nations in the world and finally merge them together. In this regard, Great Wall Motors has taken an example, and always adhered to the principle during the cooperation with international resources in recent years, thus laying a good foundation for its sustainable development.

Great Wall Motor Company Limited

As a state plan, the "Belt and Road" Initiatives are the best platform for Chinese enterprises to go abroad. Since the launch of the Initiatives, Chinese enterprises have actively gone global and demonstrated the strength and charm of "Smart Manufacturing of China" to the world. For Chinese enterprises, especially for those in the Chinese automobile industry, what they have gained in the process of globalization is not only the opportunity in the overseas markets, but also the vitality of their sustainable development. In this regard, Great Wall Motors has become a pioneer.