How China's EV industry has become an innovation champion

When I stepped into NIO's advanced manufacturing factory in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, it didn't feel like a typical car plant. There was no deafening noise. Instead, it felt like a human brain — alive aware, and impossibly efficient.

Robots moved in elegant synchrony. Screens glowed with real-time data. Parts of the plant run in total darkness. NIO calls it "black light" manufacturing.

I came to Hefei expecting a factory tour. What I found was something much bigger: a glimpse into how China's electric vehicle industry is not only surviving, but leading the global transformation.