Workers move into high gear at the production line at FAW Group's Hongqi plant. [Photo/Jilin Daily]

Northeast China's Jilin province is recognized as the birthplace of China's automobile industry and is where China FAW Group, one of China's oldest and largest automotive manufacturers, is headquartered.

Over the past few years, the added value of the automobile industry has accounted for more than a quarter of the province's industrial added value, and the province's automobile sales account for more than 10 percent of the domestic market.

On July 13, 1956, China FAW Group began production, and China's first domestically-produced car – the Jiefang truck, was successfully rolled off the assembly line.

On Aug 1, 1958, FAW successfully developed China's first high-end sedan, the Hongqi brand sedan. Since then, Hongqi cars have frequently appeared at major state-level events and the brand has become famous around the world.

On Jan 1, 1987, FAW officially completed its upgrading and transformation, and promoted the upgrading of a group of related enterprises, laying the foundation for the development of China's automobile industry in a market economy.

In April 1986, the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1986-90) included the "automobile manufacturing industry as an important pillar industry" in the national development strategy for the first time. FAW has built modern car industrial bases such as FAW Car, FAW-Volkswagen, and FAW Toyota, forming a product layout for both commercial and passenger vehicles as well a domestic and international strategic layout.

Jilin province has been making strides in developing the industry, and is set to build a mid-to-high-end industrial chain as well as a modern new automobile and parts industry cluster.

In 2020, FAW sold 3.71 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent, and its operating income hit 697.42 billion yuan ($108.38 billion), a year-on-year increase of 12.9 percent. 

Jilin province has made a goal to boost the local matching rate of parts and components in the province to 70 percent by 2025, and an industrial cluster with an annual output of over 1 trillion yuan will be developed.