If the key phrase for China's automotive industry over the past decade was scale expansion, industry leaders are now signalling a shift that the focus is moving from speed and volume to value creation and rules-based competition.

Executives and policymakers noted that with the era of breakneck expansion ending, automakers must now focus on system capabilities, user experience and sustainable profitability. This comes amid supply chain waste and consumer caution, they said at the Intelligent Electric Vehicle Development Forum 2026, hosted in Beijing earlier in April by think tank China EV100.