Explore China - Wuhan’s Drive to Become China’s Car City

Assembly line at a General Motors auto plant in Wuhan. Photograph: STR/Getty

With good transport links and a cheap, well-educated labour force, Hubei’s provincial capital aims to corner the Chinese automobile-building sector

When Zhu Chun Quio first started out as a taxi driver in Wuhan more than 30 years ago, he remembers that there were 32,570 cars on the road, all Toyota Crowns. These days almost 2m cars clutter up the sprawling city’s thoroughfares. “At 9am we’re already bumper-to-bumper,” says Zhu, at the wheel of his C-Elysee, one of the models manufactured locally by Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen.

Wuhan, population 10 million, is a transport hub, and dreams of becoming the car city of the People’s Republic. The automobile industry represents 20% of the city’s economy, with 200,000 direct jobs and more than a million indirectly.

And Wuhan’s car industry is growing fast. General Motors and its Chinese partner, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, have launched a new plant capable of producing 240,000 vehicles annually. At the end of this year Renault will be rolling out an assembly unit. With the plants operated by the Dongfeng-PSA Peugeot Citroën joint venture and Honda, among others, the provincial capital will soon have about 10 car factories, producing more than 2m vehicles a year, in an area smaller than the Paris basin. In 2014 Wuhan was the world’s seventh-largest centre of automobile production, with 1.13m vehicles assembled, although Chongqing, which assembled 2.3m vehicles last year, tops the global rankings.

The most visible impact of this development is the congestion. Corinne Policisto, who works for Renault, first came to what seemed a pretty drab place in 1988. Returning in 2013, she was bewildered. “When I visited my old stamping ground near the university, it had all changed. In those days I could cycle around at 2am but I wouldn’t dare now, the traffic’s so crazy.”

Like much of the rest of China, Wuhan is seemingly one huge building site. In one direction a new development with 10 towers is going up, in the other an elevated urban highway. Not far off there is a new overground railway and beyond a vast mall. Not to mention thousands of homes. There are currently 11,000 building sites in the city. “It’s been chaos since they started building the subway five years ago,” Zhu says. In December 2014 a fourth new line opened and the city council has promised that by 2020 there will be 12. “There wasn’t much change in the 2000s,” says Liu Yi, a young PSA executive. “But in 2010 it all speeded up, with Beijing driving development.”

Wuhan cannot compete with the big cities on the coast, despite its efforts, but it has a prominent place in Chinese history. In the early 20th century the revolt that overthrew the Qing dynasty started here. During the war against Japan the town became a rear base for the authorities, and Mao Zedong liked to swim in the Blue river.

Employees inspect a C-Elysee in a plant operated by Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen in Wuhan, in Hubei province. Photograph: Shepherd Zhou/EPA

His successors launched the great offensive to give the country its own car industry. “The objective was to develop six large firms,” says Yin Xinmin, professor of economics at Fudan University, Shanghai. “To develop the automobile, it was necessary to create everything that gravitated around it. Hubei, with its capital Wuhan, was an ideal candidate, being one of the earliest industrial centres in China. The region is well-connected, thanks in particular to the Yangtze river.”

Second Automotive Works, which changed its name to Dongfeng in 1992, set up shop in Shiyan, in the mountains of Hubei, 450km from Wuhan. In 1990 the company started a joint venture with Citroën, opting to build its first civilian car plant at Wuhan, which was more accessible than Shiyan. Only in 2005 did Dongfeng move its headquarters to the city, by which time it was working with PSA, Honda, Nissan and Renault, giving ideas to the increasingly ambitious local authorities.

“Every city needs a champion. Wuhan stands out because Dongfeng is involved in more joint ventures with foreign firms than the other state-owned organisations,” says Jean-François Dufour, at the consultants DCA. “It’s an important company in China and it carries quite a lot of weight. For the local authorities, local manufacturers are crucial. It’s a matter of prestige, a source of potential revenue and above all jobs.”

To the west of the city, the economic and technological development zone hinges on “Dongfeng city”. The firm has given its name to all the streets round the head office: Dongfeng Road 1, 2, 3 and so on. There are six car factories in the vicinity, operated by PSA, Honda and, of course, Dongfeng.

“Dongfeng is looking out for us,” says Zhu. What with the workers on the assembly lines, in the hospitals, sports centres and housing complexes, everything in this part of Wuhan is Dongfeng. “They’re good employers, too,” Liu says. “The health cover and pensions are better than other companies.”

“It’s a good thing to have this firm here,” Zhu says. “There’s plenty of work and that brings in trade. Without them the city would never have developed so quickly. And you know, Xu Ping, the Dongfeng boss, is more important than the head of the city council.”

The provincial capital is also one of China’s largest university towns, with 1.3 million students. So there is a steady stream of eager young technicians and engineers. Labour costs are lower than on the coast too.

“For a long time the economy was a bit sluggish,” says the local head of a French equipment manufacturer. “But now it’s catching up lost time.” (Source - theguardian.com)


There are 14 universities located in Hubei province. Below are some of the top universities located in Wuhan city and courses that are taught in English:

1. Wuhan University

Wuhan University, a key comprehensive university directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education of the People‘s Republic of China, is also among the key construction universities of the National "985 Project" and "211 Project". 

Wuhan University originated from Self-improvement School, which was founded in 1893 with the approval of the Qing Government by Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in the late Qing Dynasty. After years of evolution, it was denominated as National Wuhan University in 1928, hence one of the first national universities in modern China. 

By 1946, the university had already developed into a comprehensive university with six disciplines: Liberal arts, Law, Science, Engineering, Agriculture and Medicine. The university has 37 schools and departments, and offers 124 ungergraduate programs, 347 graduate programs, and 243 doctoral programs,including 5 undergraduate programs and 6 master degree programs teaching in English.

Wuhan University enjoys rolling physical features with scenic Luojia Hill in its campus coverage and the beautiful East Lake by its side, beaming with picturesque glamour. It is honored as "the most beautiful university in China."

English-taught Programs

Bachelor

International Economy and Trade - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

Management - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

Economics - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

Software Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 24,000 per year

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) - 6 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 32,000 per year

Electronic Commerce - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 32,500 per year

Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 24,000 per year

Media and Communication - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

2. Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Located in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province in central China, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) is a national key university directly under the administration of Ministry of Education of P. R. China, and is among the first Universities joining the national “211 Project” and “985 Project”. 

HUST covers an area of over 1,153 acres with picturesque environment and elegant surroundings, and has 72% greenery coverage, which has been honored as the “University in the Forest”. 

HUST covers 12 disciplines: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management and arts. The University offers 95 undergraduate programs, 224 master programs, 183 doctoral programs and 35 post-doctoral research centers, including 4 undergraduate programs, 81 master’s and 87 doctoral programs taught in English. 

HUST has been accepting international students since 1960s. For over 50 years it has cultivated more than 5000 international students from more than 130 countries and districts.

English-taught Programs

Bachelor

Telecommunications Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 30,000 per year

Pharmacy - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 35,000 per year

Nursing - 5 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 30,000 per year

Machine Design Manufacture and Automation - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 30,000 per year

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) - 6 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 40,000 per year

3. Wuhan University of Technology

Wuhan University of Technology, one of the key institutions of higher learning under the direct administration of China Ministry of Education, is included in Project 211 & Innovation Platform for Advantages Disciplines under Project 985. 

In 2012 WUT is ranked top 1% by Essential Scientific Index (ESI) of three disciplines of Materials Science, Engineering & Chemistry. By Times Higher Education in 2014 WUT is ranked 49th among Top 100 Asian Universities, and 301st -350th among Top 400 World Universities. 

WUT is accredited by the Ministry of Education, and merged from the former Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan Transportation University and Wuhan Automotive Polytechnic University. The university could offer 11 disciplines of Engineering, Science, Management, Economics, Law and ects, and possesses State Key Laboratories. 

The university makes the target to become the research-oriented university, and try to improve itself in the whole to be the first class of China, and part the disciplines to be first class in the whole world.

English-taught Programs

Bachelor

International Economics and Trade - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 18,000 per year

Industrial Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

Mining Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

Civil Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year

Business Administration  - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 18,000 per year

4. Central China Normal University

Central China Normal University (CCNU) was founded in 1903 and changed her name to Central China Normal University in 1985. Now, CCNU comprises 25 schools and departments, more than 60 research institutes (centers) , and offers 59 bachelor’s programs, and 94 doctoral programs and 184 master’s programs. 

CCNU also recruits international students. At present the university has a student body of over 30,000, of whom 8000 are postgraduates; more than 2700 are international students.

English-taught Program

Bachelor

Computer Science and Technology - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 24,000 per year

5. China University of Geosciences

China University of Geosciences（CUG）, founded in 1952，is one of "211"project universities affiliated with China Ministry of Education, and also is the research center and talent training base of Earth Sciences, Resources and Environment in China. 

It has formed a complete and optimized multidisciplinary system with characteristic of Earth Science, including disciplines of science, engineering, literature, management, economics, law, pedagogy, and philosophy. 

The University has integrated training system of undergraduate, master, and doctor, post-doctorate. CUG owns a set of national and provincial level key laboratories and engineering centers. The faculty members of CUG totals about 1300, among them 9 are Academicians of Chinese Academy of Science. 

CUG has completed teaching facilities, advanced research equipment, rich library and museum collections, convenient transportation and beautiful campus. It is one of national key comprehensive universities.

English-taught Program

Bachelor

Communication Engineering - 4 years duration with tuition fees of RMB 22,000 per year