Contributed by Mr Eiji Nakamura, SCAO Corporate Planning & Coordination Dept GM

24-27 September 2023
Singapore

The SCAO delegation (comprising Group CEO Mr Shiomi, Group CFO Mr Nishimura, Business Development Unit GM Mr Sawada and others) visited Shanghai, China in September to conduct market research on the Chinese market, meet with leading venture companies, and hold meetings with SC China. This visit was made at the request of SC China to observe the growing Chinese market and discuss future collaboration.

Although our stay in Shanghai was short, we were able to see the popularisation of electric vehicles (EVs), rapid expansion of EV battery exchange stations and battery chargers, and trial progress on automated driving. Though we were not able to experience drone delivery this time, we nevertheless managed to catch a glimpse of how the industry is growing as a global testing ground.

EVs account for about 30% of new car sales in China these days, and in Shanghai alone, it is said to be even higher at 40-50%, with EVs completely prevalent on the streets. We rented a car from NIO (the car itself cost about S$70K), one of the emerging manufacturers following Tesla and BYD, and the ride was as comfortable as a conventional luxury car. Its modern interior similar to Tesla’s, is cool and looks like it could compete well with the major manufacturers. On a side note, the car’s navigation system and internal settings do not use a touch panel, but instead use only voice to communicate with the robot, which may be difficult for those with a bad voice!

We also had meetings with venture companies related to logistics, EVs, automated driving, etc., to hear about possibilities for future expansion and collaboration with us (We will work on this further).

Here are my observation and thoughts after the trip:

1. Chinese companies are evolving quickly, and it may be necessary to change our mindset about them (whom we used to think of as our competitors), and to consider them as collaborators or part of our supply chain instead.
2. We should have a broader perspective to cooperate with China, the Middle East, Africa, etc., and not just stay in communication within the SCAO region or with Japan.

PS：China is said to have many CCTVs, but don’t worry, we all returned safely.