The Pujiang Innovation Forumheld in Shanghai Oct 25-26, 2014 witnessed important contributions from SAIC.

As a sponsor and long-term strategic partner of the forum, SAIC Group has provided services to the event with its vehicles including Roewe, Maxus and Sunwin, injecting vitality into Shanghai’s effort to build a scientific and technological innovation center with global influences.

SAIC’s cooperation with the forum dates back to 2012. The two sides upgraded their relationship in 2014 to a long-term strategic partnership, and SAIC became the chief provider of vehicle services for the forum.

Innovative gene

The tie-up between SAIC and the Pujiang Innovation Forum was not only based on the attraction to one another owing to their “innovative genes”, but also represented SAIC’s responsibility in helping Shanghai boost its innovation ability.

The forum, co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Shanghai municipal government, aims to become a high-level international forum concentrating on prospective strategic innovation theories and policy research. The theme of the 2014 forum was “Coordinated Innovation and Sharing Opportunities”.

Coordinated innovation is an indispensable requirement for independent innovation in the background of globalization. As a State-owned enterprise that takes lead in innovation in Shanghai, SAIC needs to carry on “boosting innovation ability” as part of its corporate values and implement a strategy for a new round of technological innovations based on the achievements it has made in independent innovation.

Brain-intensive HQ

Centering on the concept of innovation-driven development, SAIC is making every efforts to contribute to Shanghai’s vision of building a world influential technological innovation center.

In addition to further promoting the overall development of all segments of the auto industry, SAIC will do its best to build a brain-intensive headquarters. It put further emphasis on enhancing technologies and speeding up business models innovation in order to shift its advantages from traditional manufacturing to both ends of the “smiling curve”, the most lucrative areas of the industry value chain, namely R&D and marketing. The company will speed up transformation from a traditional manufacturing enterprise to a comprehensive provider that offers customers a full range of high-end products and services.

While accelerating the development of its independent brands and new energy cars, SAIC will also enhance prospective technology research. The company exhibited its accomplishments in developing smart-driving cars and timeshare rentals at the China International Industry Fair held in November 2014. It is actively seeking innovative ideas and planning to set up a special venture capital firm in Silicon Valley to explore ways of boosting application of new technologies through venture capital support.

Besides, SAIC will pay utmost attention to the fast changes brought about by the Internet economy to the auto industry’s ecosystem and consumer demands, and make effort to boost integration between the Internet economy and the traditional industry. A good example of such effort and commitment is the signing of a cooperation deal with e-commerce giant Alibaba in July to build China’s first “Internet Car” for the future as well as shape a new ecosystem for the motor industry.