Give cars wings, Guangdong manufacturing takes off from here | Treasure Girls Explore the Two Sessions · Frontline Discovering "New"

On March 5, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress opened in Beijing. The Government Work Report pointed out that 2026 will be the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, and we should focus the driving force of economic development on the real economy, develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, and build a modern industrial system.

As a representative of new quality productive forces, the new energy vehicle industry delivered an impressive performance in 2025: in 2025, China’s annual new energy vehicle production exceeded 16 million units.

In fact, for every four new energy vehicles, one is “Made in Guangdong.” In this hotbed of industry, a smart manufacturing base that can make “flying cars” is becoming a window for observing China’s future mobility.

Visiting a “Flying” Factory:

One car rolls off the line every 102 seconds

Located in Guangzhou, the Xiaopeng Motors smart manufacturing base showcases the forefront picture of intelligent manufacturing. Here, industrial manufacturing is no longer just the cold roar of machinery, but a tech-themed visual feast.

In the stamping workshop, five processes—drawing, trimming, punching, flanging, and forming—achieve 100% automation, with robotic arms operating nonstop 24 hours a day; in the welding workshop, 396 robots can complete all welding processes simultaneously. Peng Zhizhou base guide Zhang Yixin introduces that, relying on a full-stack in-house developed “smart brain” MES system, all data in the production process are accurately recorded, enabling end-to-end visualized management and control.

The most eye-catching thing in the base is the panoramic sky canvas installation system: on the right, the robotic arm captures displacement differences of 0.05 millimeters through a vision recognition system, and the robotic arm on the left immediately adjusts the adhesive application trajectory, controlling the precision within ±0.5 millimeters.

It is also worth noting that this facility is equipped with the world’s largest 16,000T integrated die-casting machine, which can die-cast 167 parts into form in a single shot, and works with an AI vision system to achieve precise quality inspection throughout the entire process. It is precisely with such efficiency that the average car assembly workshop can produce one car every 102 seconds.

He Xiaopeng:

Focus on autonomous driving and the low-altitude economy

During this year’s National Two Sessions, multiple proposals were submitted by National People’s Congress deputy and Xiaopeng Motors Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng, focusing on key areas of technological innovation and industrial innovation-led development.

In the field of autonomous driving, He Xiaopeng suggested that, while maintaining the stable operation of the L2-level safety supervision and regulatory system, we should promote autonomous driving policies to move from L2 to L4 and simplify the intermediate L3 link. He hopes to grant local pilot management authority for C-end applications of L4 driverless driving in specific scenarios, allowing certain cities with sufficiently mature basic conditions to carry out L4 application pilots in particular low-risk scenarios, gradually forming experience that can be replicated and promoted.

In the low-altitude economy sector, He Xiaopeng proposed advancing the devolution of management authority for low-altitude airspace, conducting pilot programs for refined management of low-altitude airspace, and appropriately further devolving airspace management authority to provincial-level or above local governments, so as to fully mobilize local governments’ enthusiasm and initiative in developing the low-altitude economy. He also suggested that, based on the core attributes and functional positioning of flying cars, we should clarify the tax categorization of flying cars that meet airworthiness standards, and implement phased tax reduction and exemption support policies to reduce companies’ R&D, manufacturing, and market promotion costs, thereby stimulating consumer demand in the market.