New regulations on automobile investment for comments: ban on new independent fuel vehicles

On July 4, the official website of the National Development and Reform Commission released a message to adapt to the new situation of reform and opening up of the automobile industry, improve the investment management of the automobile industry, and promote the high-quality development of the automobile industry. According to the Administrative Licensing Law, the Regulations on the Approval and Filing of Enterprise Investment Projects, etc. Relevant laws and regulations, the National Development and Reform Commission drafted the "Regulations on Investment Management of the Automobile Industry (Draft for Comment)", and publicly solicited opinions from the public.

The policy objectives proposed in the "Draft for Comment" are: improve the access standards for investment projects in the automotive industry, strengthen post-event supervision, standardize market investment behavior, guide the rational investment of social capital, encourage enterprise capacity cooperation, and prevent blind construction and disorderly development. . Strictly control the production capacity of new traditional fuel vehicles, actively promote the healthy and orderly development of new energy vehicles, and focus on building a smart car innovation development system.

Regarding the layout of fuel vehicle vehicle projects, the “Draft for Comment” proposes to optimize the production capacity of traditional fuel vehicles. The newly added capacity investment projects should be built in the provinces where the vehicle utilization rates of the previous two years are higher than the national average, and the production capacity will be promoted. Provinces with solid industrial foundations, complete supporting systems, and obvious competitive advantages gather. Provinces and enterprises that encourage low utilization rate of automobile capacity will increase capital investment and mergers and acquisitions.

Regarding the layout of new energy vehicle projects, the "Draft for Comment" proposed to scientifically plan the layout of new energy vehicle industry, encourage existing traditional fuel vehicle companies to increase capital investment, adjust product structure, and develop new energy vehicle products. Strictly establish new investment projects for pure electric vehicle enterprises to prevent blind deployment and low-level redundant construction. Promote new capacity to concentrate on new energy vehicles with strong consumer demand and traditional fuel vehicle replacement potential.

The "Draft for Comment" clearly states that it is forbidden to build new independent fuel vehicle manufacturers (except those that do not sell products in China). Existing auto companies to expand fuel vehicle production capacity investment projects are also subject to strict restrictions.

Not only the production capacity of fuel vehicles, but also the construction of new energy vehicle projects has begun to "regulate the rules."

The "Draft for Comment" proposes that new investment projects for independent pure electric vehicle enterprises shall not be constructed in any province with one of the following conditions:

(1) The proportion of new energy vehicle ownership is lower than the national average.

(2) There is a zombie qualification for new energy vehicles in the same product category.

(3) The existing production of new pure electric vehicle enterprise investment projects of the same product category has not reached 80% of the construction scale.

Moreover, for the newly-built independent pure electric vehicle enterprise investment project, the "Draft for Comment" also proposed a number of preconditions, including the construction scale, the pure electric passenger car is not less than 100,000, and the pure electric commercial vehicle is not less than 5,000. After the project is completed and put into production, it will only produce pure electric vehicle products with its own registered trademarks and brands.

Some people believe that these requirements are mainly to prevent overcapacity and blind investment. From the policy, the local government is urged to carefully issue the power of examination and approval.

In addition, the "Draft for Comment" also proposed to encourage enterprises to carry out mergers and acquisitions and strategic cooperation through equity investment, joint research and development of products, jointly organize production and enhance industrial concentration. Support state-owned auto companies and other types of enterprises to carry out mixed ownership reform, strengthen alliances, and form a world-class auto enterprise group.

As early as 2017, FAW, Dongfeng and Changan jointly formed a forward-looking technology research and development center to study common technologies. At the end of 2017, 12 shareholder units including FAW, Dongfeng, Changan, Beiqi, Guangzhou Automobile, Yutong and China Automotive Center jointly established Guoqi Intelligent Networking Automotive Research Institute Co., Ltd.

According to the announcement, relevant units and people from all walks of life can log in to the National Development and Reform Commission portal website (http://) homepage "Opinions for Solicitation" column before August 4, 2018, and enter "Automobile Industry Investment Management Regulations (Draft for Comment)" The section "Public Consultation" provides comments on the "Draft for Comment".

The following is the full text of the "Regulations on Investment Management of the Automobile Industry (Draft for Comment)":

Attachment: "Regulations on Investment Management of Automobile Industry (Draft for Comment)"

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 [Necessity] is to thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the spirit of the 19th Party Congress, adapt to the new situation of reform and opening up of the automobile industry, improve the investment management of the automobile industry, and promote the high-quality development of the automobile industry. These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Relevant Laws and Regulations of the Administrative Licensing Law, the Regulations on the Approval and Filing of Enterprise Investment Projects.

Article 2 [Policy Objectives] Improve the access standards for investment projects in the automotive industry, strengthen post-event supervision, standardize market investment behaviors, guide the rational investment of social capital, encourage enterprise capacity cooperation, and prevent blind construction and disorderly development. Strictly control the production capacity of new traditional fuel vehicles, actively promote the healthy and orderly development of new energy vehicles, and focus on building a smart car innovation development system.

Article 3 [Principles] Insist on making the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources in the automobile industry, giving better play to the role of the government, adhering to the principle of decentralization, decentralization, and optimization of services, adhering to open cooperation and fair competition, and insisting on who is responsible for investment, Who approves who supervises and who controls who supervises.

Article 4 [Scope of Application] These Provisions apply to automobile investment projects of various market entities within China.

Article 5 [Types of Investment Projects] Automobile investment projects are classified into the following types:

(1) Automobile vehicle investment projects are classified into fuel vehicle and pure electric vehicle investment projects according to the driving power system, including two product categories, passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

Fuel vehicle investment projects refer to automobile investment projects that provide engine-driven driving power, including traditional fuel vehicles (including alternative fuel vehicles), ordinary hybrid vehicles, and plug-in hybrid vehicles; pure electric vehicle investment projects refer to Automotive investment projects that use electric motors to provide driving power, including pure electric vehicles, extended-range electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. The smart car investment project is managed according to the fuel vehicle or the pure electric vehicle investment project according to the driving power.

(2) Other investment projects include auto parts such as automobile engines, body assemblies, power batteries and fuel cells, recycling of power batteries, and investment projects for special vehicles and trailers.

Article 6 [Management Methods] The automobile investment projects that have been approved for management shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Catalogue of Investment Projects Approved by the Government. The automobile investment project that implements the record management, the filing authority and its authority shall be prescribed by the provincial people's government.

Chapter II Investment Direction

Article 7 [Layout of Fuel Vehicle Vehicle Project] Optimize the layout of traditional fuel vehicle production capacity. The newly added capacity investment project should be built in the provinces where the vehicle utilization rate is higher than the national average in the previous two years, and the production capacity will be solid. The provinces with complete supporting systems and obvious competitive advantages gather. Provinces and enterprises that encourage low utilization rate of automobile capacity will increase capital investment and mergers and acquisitions, accelerate technological progress, eliminate backward production capacity, and enhance market competitiveness.

Article 8 [Layout of New Energy Vehicle Complete Vehicle Project] Scientifically plan the layout of new energy automobile industry, encourage existing traditional fuel automobile enterprises to increase capital investment, adjust product structure, and develop new energy automobile products. Strictly establish new investment projects for pure electric vehicle enterprises to prevent blind deployment and low-level redundant construction. Newly-built pure electric vehicle enterprises and existing enterprises investing in pure electric vehicle projects should be built in provinces with good industrial base, complete innovation system, strong supporting capacity and great development potential, and key areas for air pollution prevention and control. Promote new capacity to concentrate on new energy vehicles with strong consumer demand and traditional fuel vehicle replacement potential.

Article 9 [Key Development Areas] Supporting social capital and enterprises with strong technical capabilities to invest in new energy vehicles, smart cars, energy-saving vehicles and key components, advanced manufacturing equipment, power battery recycling technology and equipment research and development and industrialization .

(1) New energy vehicles focus on the development of non-metallic composite materials, high-strength lightweight alloys, high-strength steel and other lightweight materials for bodywork, parts and vehicles, full-featured, high-performance vehicle control systems, efficient drive systems And advanced vehicle power battery products, vehicle power batteries and other manufacturing, testing technology and special equipment.

(2) The key areas of smart car industry, such as complex environment awareness, new intelligent terminals, and vehicle intelligent computing platforms, key components and systems such as vehicle sensors, central processing units, dedicated chips, operating systems, and wireless communication equipment, and technology R&D capability, test evaluation capability, military-civilian integration capability, and security support capacity building.

(3) Energy-saving vehicles focus on the development of energy-efficient technologies and products such as high-efficiency engines, advanced automatic transmissions and hybrid systems.

(IV) The power battery recycling and utilization field will focus on the development of high-efficiency recycling technology and special equipment for power batteries to promote the construction of cascade utilization, recycling and disposal.

Article 10 [Enterprise Cooperation] Encourage enterprises to carry out mergers and acquisitions and strategic cooperation through equity investment, etc., jointly research and develop products, jointly organize production, and enhance industrial concentration. Support state-owned auto companies and other types of enterprises to carry out mixed ownership reform, strengthen alliances, and form a world-class automotive enterprise group. Encourage key enterprises in the automotive industry to integrate advantageous resources in the fields of production, learning, research, and use, and form industrial alliances and industrial complexes.

Chapter III Fuel Vehicle Vehicle Investment Project

Article 11 [Prohibited Investment Projects] It is forbidden to construct the following fuel vehicle investment projects. (Except for companies that do not sell products in China).

(1) New independent fuel vehicle manufacturers.

(2) The existing automobile vehicle manufacturers build fuel production capacity in the category of passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

(3) Existing fuel automobile enterprises that are not included in the national-level regional development plan are relocated to other provinces as a whole.

(4) Investing in the fuel vehicle enterprise that is specifically publicized by the competent department of the industry (except for the investment of the original shareholder of the enterprise or the investment project of converting the enterprise into a non-independent vehicle production enterprise).

Article 12 [Energy Expansion Project] Existing automobile enterprises to expand fuel vehicle production capacity investment projects shall meet the conditions of (1) to (4):

(1) The utilization rate of automobile capacity in the previous two years was higher than the industry average.

(2) The proportion of new energy vehicle production in the previous two years was higher than the industry average.

(3) The ratio of research and development expenses to the main business income in the previous two years was higher than 3%, or the proportion of automobile exports (including sales of overseas investment enterprises) and production volume in the previous year was higher than the industry average.

(IV) The utilization rate of automobile capacity in the two provinces in the project province is higher than the national average level, and there is no fuel vehicle vehicle enterprise of the same product category (passenger and commercial vehicle) that is specially publicized by the competent authorities of the industry.

Article 13 In addition to comply with Article 12, the average fuel consumption of enterprises shall meet the requirements of national standards and relevant regulations, and the construction scale of new and expanded investment projects in different places shall not be less than 150,000 vehicles. And the total output of the company last year is not less than 300,000 units.

Article 14 If an existing vehicle enterprise merges with other independent vehicle manufacturers of the same product category and converts them into non-independent vehicle production enterprises without increasing their original production capacity, they may not be subject to Articles 12 and 13 Bar constraint.

Chapter IV Pure Electric Vehicle Vehicle Investment Project

Article 15 [Project Restricted Areas] New independent pure electric vehicle enterprise investment projects shall not be constructed in any of the following provinces:

(1) The proportion of new energy vehicle ownership is lower than the national average.

(2) There is a zombie qualification for new energy vehicles in the same product category.

(3) The existing production of new pure electric vehicle enterprise investment projects of the same product category has not reached 80% of the construction scale.

Article 16 [Corporate legal person] An enterprise legal person applying for a new independent pure electric vehicle enterprise investment project (including the existing automobile vehicle enterprise cross-passing vehicle, commercial vehicle category to build pure electric vehicle production capacity) shall meet the following conditions:

(1) All shareholders shall not withdraw their share capital until the project is completed and the output reaches the construction scale.

(2) Shareholders have the intellectual property rights and production capacity of key components such as vehicle control systems, drive motors, and vehicle power batteries, and have strong control over key components.

(3) The product research and development organization has been established, with a professional R&D team, with experience and capability in designing, system and structural design of pure electric vehicles; vehicle control system, vehicle power battery system, vehicle integration and light weight. R & D and corresponding test verification capabilities; body and chassis manufacturing, automotive power battery system integration, vehicle assembly and other major trial production processes and capabilities.

(4) Having the invention patent and intellectual property rights of the core technology of pure electric vehicles, and obtaining authorization or confirmation.

(5) The accumulated R&D investment in the previous two years was not less than RMB 200 million.

(6) The after-sales service guarantee is strong, and it promises to guarantee the quality of the products sold within 5 years after the project is completed and put into production, or to provide guarantees from related enterprises. The net assets of the insurance company or the guarantee company in the past three years are compatible with the amount of products sold by the newly-built enterprises during the guarantee period.

Article 17 [Major Shareholders] The proportion of major shareholders of new independent enterprise legal persons is higher than one-third; the existing investment projects of newly-built pure electric vehicle enterprises have been completed, the output has reached the construction scale, and there are no illegal construction projects; The self-owned funds and financing ability can meet the project construction and operation needs, and should meet one of the following conditions:

(1) The automobile enterprise is a major shareholder. The fuel vehicle enterprise's annual utilization rate of automobile capacity and the output of new energy vehicles are both higher than the industry average. The output of pure electric vehicle enterprises reached the construction scale last year.

(2) As the major shareholder of the auto parts enterprise, the total number of key components (complete vehicle control system, drive motor, and vehicle power battery) in the previous two years is more than 100,000 sets.

(3) Designing R&D enterprises, overseas enterprises and other market entities as major shareholders, and developing and owning pure electric vehicle products with intellectual property rights. The total number of domestic and overseas markets sold and registered in the previous two years is more than 30,000 passenger cars. Or 3000 commercial vehicles.

Article 18 [Project Requirements] New independent pure electric vehicle enterprise investment projects shall meet the following conditions:

(1) The construction content should include:

1. The continuous development capability of pure electric vehicles, on the basis of existing research and development institutions, establish a product information database, improve product concept design, trial production test, test and inspection and vehicle operation status monitoring capabilities.

2. The scale of construction is no less than 100,000 pure electric passenger cars and no less than 5,000 pure electric commercial vehicles.

3. Production capacity and consistency of key components such as vehicle forming, painting, and final assembly, as well as vehicle power battery systems.

4. Pure electric vehicle product quality assurance, sales and after-sales service system.

(2) After the project is completed and put into production, only the pure electric vehicle products with their own registered trademarks and brands will be produced.

Article 19 [Enterprise Capacity Expansion] Existing automobile enterprises expand the production capacity of pure electric vehicles in the same product category. The utilization rate of automobile production capacity of fuel automobile enterprises in the past two years is higher than the average level of the whole industry. Pure electric vehicle enterprises last year pure electric The production of automobiles has reached the construction scale; the energy consumption and driving mileage of the products to be produced have reached the domestic advanced level.

Article 20 [Extension of Off-site] The existing automobile enterprises shall construct the construction scale of the same-type pure electric vehicle production capacity project in different places, with passenger vehicles not less than 100,000 vehicles and commercial vehicles not less than 5,000 vehicles.

Chapter V Other Investment Projects

Article 21 [Engine Project] The main technical indicators such as the power of the new automobile engine enterprise investment project to produce the engine should reach the international advanced level (see Annex 1). Existing enterprises add new engine product investment projects, and the engine should meet the corresponding requirements of the latest national standards for vehicle emissions.

Article 22 [New Vehicle Power Battery Project] The new vehicle power battery unit/system investment project shall meet the following conditions:

(1) The corporate legal person shall have a product research and development institution and a professional R&D team with a research and development experience. Monolithic enterprises should master the technical and experimental verification capabilities of materials research and development, and system companies should master the core technologies and test verification capabilities in battery management and thermal management system development.

(2) The proposed facilities have a high level of intelligence, and can meet the requirements of intelligent manufacturing in terms of plant layout, production line design, intelligent equipment investment, digital information management, production environment control, and process control. The production process of the single project should cover the process of electrode preparation, chemical formation, and monomer assembly. The system project should have the capability of module production, system assembly and testing.

(3) In addition to meeting relevant national and industry standards, products to be produced should also reach the current industry leading level (see Annex 1).

(4) The project shall be accompanied by the construction of a vehicle power battery recycling management system.

Article 23 [Vehicle Power Battery Expansion Project] In addition to complying with Article 19, the existing vehicle power battery capacity utilization rate of the enterprise is higher than the industry average. Level, and no quality and safety accidents occurred in the production and application of the product.

Article 24 [Power Battery Recycling Project] Investment projects such as power battery recycling, cascade utilization, recycling and disposal shall comply with the requirements of national policies and standards, and adopt advanced and applicable technical processes and equipment to ensure the environmental protection of unusable residues. Dispose of and implement environmentally sound and harmless treatment.

Article 25 [New Fuel Cell Project] The new fuel cell stack/system investment project for vehicles shall meet the following conditions:

(1) The enterprise legal person shall have a product research and development institution and a professional R&D team. Fuel cell stack companies should have the technical development capability and test verification capabilities of key components such as bipolar plates and membrane electrodes. Fuel cell system enterprises should have technical development capabilities and test verification capabilities in the areas of stack control systems and auxiliary systems.

(2) The fuel cell stack project shall build the production capacity of key components such as bipolar plates and membrane electrodes and stack assembly. The fuel cell system project shall build the assembly capacity of key components such as the stack control system and the stack system.

(3) In addition to meeting relevant national and industry standards, the fuel cell system to be produced should also reach the current industry leading level (see Annex 1).

Article 26 [Car body assembly project] It is forbidden to build a new traditional body assembly investment project. The enterprise legal person of the new body assembly investment project shall have a product research and development institution, and have the light-weight technology development capability and test verification capability of new materials and new processes; the project shall adopt new technology and build new material body molding and assembly production capacity.

Article 27 [Special Vehicles and Trailer Projects] It is forbidden to build new investment projects for ordinary transportation vehicles and general transportation trailer enterprises. Special-purpose automobile enterprises shall not build all kinds of automobile chassis and vehicle capacity, except for the special operation vehicle chassis for self-use. The enterprise legal person of the new special-purpose vehicle and trailer investment project shall have a product research and development institution with the technical development and test verification capability of the special device.

Chapter VI Project Approval and Record Management

Article 28 [Service Guide] The provincial-level investment administrative department shall, in accordance with the “Regulations on the Approval and Filing of Enterprise Investment Projects” and the “Administrative Measures for the Approval and Filing of Enterprise Investment Projects”, formulate and publicize the guidelines for the approval and filing of automobile investment projects, and clarify the project. The required information content, as well as the conditions, procedures, time limits, etc.

Article 29 [Submission Materials] The materials of automobile investment projects submitted by enterprises shall state the following contents:

(1) Basic information such as corporate legal person and shareholder composition.

(2) The status of the proposed project, including the total investment amount, project name, construction site, construction scale, and construction content.

(3) The project complies with the instructions of this regulation.

(4) The project complies with the relevant laws and regulations.

(5) Other materials that need to be submitted in the relevant regulations.

Article 30 [Online Declaration] The project legal person shall apply for the project through the online approval and supervision platform of the national investment project, apply for the unique project code, and truthfully report the basic information of the construction, construction progress, completion and other construction implementation, and the project information. Responsible for authenticity, legality and integrity.

Article 31 [Information Reporting] The provincial-level investment authorities shall strictly implement the Regulations on the Approval and Filing of Enterprise Investment Projects, and submit the project information to the State Council's investment authority in a timely manner through the online approval and supervision platform for national investment projects. .

Article 32 [Verification of Project Content] If an enterprise handles the project formalities by means of a spin-off project, concealing relevant information or providing false application materials, the competent investment department shall not accept or approve, record, and give a warning.

Article 33 [Information Verification] The provincial investment authorities shall conduct statistics and analysis of automobile investment projects every quarter. If the information is incomplete, the enterprise shall be required to promptly supplement relevant information; if the construction content is inconsistent with the project information, the enterprise shall be ordered to make corrections within a time limit; if it is not corrected within the time limit, it shall be punished according to law and listed in the list of untrustworthy enterprises. The national credit information sharing platform and related publicity system are open to the public.

Article 34 [Penalty for Violation of Regulations] The competent department of investment under the State Council shall establish an irregular spot check system, publicize the non-conforming automobile investment projects, include the abnormal credit records of the project, and incorporate them into the national credit information sharing platform; and order local investment directors. Departments and enterprises carry out rectification.

Chapter VII Project Supervision and Management

Article 35 [Preventing Unfair Competition] Local governments at all levels shall not impede fair competition in the market, and provide tax, capital, land and other preferential conditions for automobile investment projects in violation of regulations.

Article 36 [Review of Major Projects] For major automobile construction projects, mergers and acquisitions, and equity change projects involving industrial safety, relevant departments shall conduct anti-monopoly review in a timely manner as required. Where foreign investment is involved, security review shall also be conducted in accordance with regulations.

Article 37 [Collaborative Supervision Mechanism] The competent investment departments at all levels shall establish and improve the coordinated supervision and joint law enforcement mechanisms with the competent departments of planning, land, environmental protection, safe production, and industry management to improve the efficiency of supervision and law enforcement. An enterprise that has complete and compliant procedures for a car investment project can apply for a production permit.

Article 38 [Joint Disciplinary Action] For the state or local investment authorities to verify the violation of the automobile investment project in the supervision and management, the investment department shall cancel the investment project and send a copy to the relevant department, including planning, land, environmental protection, energy conservation and safety. Relevant departments such as production, finance and industry authorities will further deal with and implement joint punishment. In case of violation of the law, penalties shall be imposed according to law.

Article 39 [Responsibility investigation] According to the principle of who approves who supervises and who controls who, the local investment authority shall establish a sound supervisory responsibility system and accountability system, and strengthen the supervision of auto investment projects in the event of non-compliance. Regulatory duties or poor supervision, ordered to correct. The responsible leaders and directly responsible personnel shall be dealt with according to law.

Chapter VIII Capacity Monitoring and Early Warning

Article 40 [Capacity Monitoring Statistics] Automobile Capacity Monitoring and Statistics:

(1) Automobile complete vehicles and key component enterprises shall report the relevant product output, completed production capacity, capacity under construction and planned production capacity in the previous year to the provincial investment authority before the end of January each year and copy to the investment department of the State Council.

(2) The provincial-level investment administrative department shall promptly grasp the changes in the production capacity of relevant automobile products in the region, and report the summary of production and production capacity of the previous year to the investment department of the State Council before the end of March each year.

Article 41 [Production Early Warning] Automobile Production Capacity Release and Early Warning:

(1) The investment department of the State Council shall establish a working mechanism for verification and information release of automobile production capacity, timely release information on changes in automobile production capacity, strengthen production capacity warning, guide enterprises and social capital to make reasonable investments, and provide services for local government automobile investment project management.

(2) The provincial-level investment authorities shall improve the monitoring system of automobile production capacity in the region, study the changes in capacity utilization rate, strengthen the guidance and supervision of enterprises, effectively respond to and timely resolve the risk of overcapacity, and continuously improve the utilization level of production capacity.

Chapter IX Other Matters

Article 42 [Changes of the original project] The contents of the original approval or approval of the automobile investment project, such as the construction content and major shareholders, shall be reported to the original project approval or approval authority.

Article 43 [Explanation] This provision is interpreted by the National Development and Reform Commission.

Article 44 [Implementation] This regulation shall be implemented as of the day of 2018. Special management measures for foreign investment access are specifically regulated, from which they are specified. "Management Regulations for New Pure Electric Passenger Vehicle Enterprises" (Order No. 27 of 2015 of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the National Development and Reform Commission) "Opinions on Improving the Management of Automobile Investment Projects" (Development and Reform Industry [2017] No. 1055) It will be abolished from the date of implementation. If other relevant documents are inconsistent with these Provisions, they shall be implemented in accordance with these Provisions.