German Union: Allowing Chinese Companies to Use Volkswagen's Idle Factories Requires Careful Evaluation

On July 1, two mandatory national standards—"Safety Requirements for Traction Batteries of Electric Vehicles" (GB 38031-2025) and "Safety Requirements for Electric Vehicles" (GB 18384-2025)—will officially come into force. This marks the first time in China's new energy vehicle sector that both battery‑specific and vehicle‑level core safety standards take effect on the same day. The new battery standard establishes "no fire, no explosion" as a mandatory requirement, replacing the previous technical threshold of "providing an alarm signal 5 minutes before fire or explosion." The updated standard also adds tests including bottom impact testing and safety testing after fast‑charging cycles. The vehicle standard requires the installation of an independent physical one‑button emergency power‑off device. The two standards will be implemented in phases: all newly applied vehicle models submitted after July 1 must fully comply with the new rules, while models already approved and on sale are granted a one‑year transition period until full compliance is required by July 2027. Industry players across the supply chain have already entered the final stages of certification review and production‑line retrofitting.

On June 29, the China Automotive Battery Industry Innovation Alliance and the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance jointly issued the "Initiative on Regulating Supplier Payment Terms for Power and Energy Storage Battery Enterprises." The initiative focuses on procurement transactions between power and energy storage battery and system integrator companies and their suppliers, offering specific recommendations on order confirmation and modification, delivery and acceptance, payment and settlement, and contract duration. On the same day, several companies including CATL, FinDreams Battery, Sunwoda Power, EVE Energy, and Hyperstrong sequentially announced their support. An official from the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated that this initiative is an important step in implementing the "Regulation on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises." It specifies requirements for order confirmation and modification, delivery and acceptance, and payment and settlement. For example, it stipulates that the acceptance period for materials and components should generally not exceed 7 working days; the payment cycle for SME suppliers should generally begin on the date of delivery or acceptance; it recommends that all payments to SMEs be made in cash; and it encourages both supply and demand parties to establish stable cooperative relationships and to sign long‑term framework agreements based on their existing cooperation.

According to customs statistics, Guangzhou exported over 120,000 vehicles worth RMB 13.295 billion in the first five months of this year, up 65.8% and 56.1% year‑on‑year respectively. Among them, exports of electric passenger vehicles reached 75,500 units valued at RMB 9.36 billion, jumping 92.8% and 88.5% respectively, making auto exports a key driver of the city's foreign trade growth. The rapid export growth is primarily attributed to Guangzhou's enhanced port capacity and service innovations. Nansha Port, equipped with seven berths of 10,000‑tonne class or above and an annual design throughput of over 3 million vehicles, operates 12 international ro‑ro routes. In the January–May period, some 192,000 vehicles were exported through Nansha auto terminal, with NEVs accounting for nearly half and posting growth of over 80%. Meanwhile, innovative models such as the "Guangzhou–Hong Kong Auto Export Express" have cut vehicle registration time from 14 days to 3 days upon arrival in Hong Kong, reducing per‑vehicle costs by more than RMB 2,000 and saving companies over RMB 12 million in total. The city has also issued the "Auto Export Guidebook" and regularly holds resource‑matching events to provide full‑process guidance for automakers.