BMW China has become a limited partner.
The curse of "no investment beyond the Shanhai Pass" is being broken.
BMW China has joined hands with Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd., an established automaker in Northeast China, to jointly contribute funds to set up an industrial fund, targeting the new tracks of electrification, intelligentization, and low - carbonization.
This cooperation not only marks the transformation of the traditional vehicle - making giant from the "client" to the "Limited Partner (LP)", but also releases a new signal that industrial capital is deeply binding with local state - owned assets to jointly build a secure supply chain. Northeast China is attempting to use the new formula of "government mother fund + industrial scenarios" to turn the former old industrial base into a springboard for IPOs of hard - technology projects. As sub - sectors such as medical care, military optoelectronics, hydrogen energy, and industrial software start to emerge, can the primary market in Northeast China stage a comeback?
Becoming an LP
Jinbei and BMW have joined hands to become an LP.
Recently, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that the company intends to participate in the establishment of an investment fund as a limited partner with its own funds of 240 million yuan. It also plans to jointly sign the "Partnership Agreement of Shenyang Automobile Industry Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership)" (referred to as the "investment fund") with Yueke Mother Fund, Shenqi Xinzhi, BMW China, Shenhua Holdings, Shenqi Shengyu, and Liaoyue Fund. The total subscribed capital of the investment fund is 800 million yuan, among which the company subscribes to 240 million yuan, accounting for 30% of the total subscribed capital of the investment fund.
It is reported that the manager of this investment fund is Yueke Mother Fund, the general partners in charge of execution are Yueke Mother Fund and Shenqi Xinzhi, and the limited partners are BMW China, Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd., Shenhua Holdings, Shenqi Shengyu, and Liaoyue Fund. Since Shenqi Xinzhi, the general partner in charge of execution, and Shenhua Holdings and Shenqi Shengyu, the limited partners, are controlled by the same controlling person as the company, this participation in the establishment of the investment fund constitutes a related - party transaction. The investment fund has a term of 7 years, including an investment period of 4 years and an exit period of 3 years. The investment scope mainly focuses on the automotive industry chain, with a particular emphasis on directions such as electrification, intelligentization, and low - carbonization. The investment industries include but are not limited to electronic information, new materials, new energy, and high - end manufacturing. The subscribed capital of the partnership will be paid in four installments, specifically in September 2025, January 2026, January 2027, and January 2028, with each installment accounting for 25% of the total subscribed capital.
Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd. is a highly representative automaker in Shenyang. Established in 1988 and registered in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, it is one of the oldest and largest automobile and auto - parts manufacturing enterprises in Shenyang. It was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1992. Its controlling shareholder is the state - owned platform of the Shenyang automobile industry chain, and the ultimate controlling entity is the Shenyang State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
The company's main business focuses on the design, production, and sales of auto - parts. Its products cover 29 major categories and more than 130 varieties, including interior parts, seats, rubber parts, transmissions, front and rear axles, frames, fuel tanks, etc. It also has light - passenger, light - truck, and special - purpose vehicle platforms such as "Jinbei Haise" and "Granvia". In recent years, it has cooperated with Geely to launch the "Jinbei Jiyun" new - energy commercial vehicles (E6/E9). BMW Brilliance is its largest customer, and it supplies parts for models such as the 5 Series, X5, 3 Series, and X3. It also provides parts for Brilliance Renault, Chevrolet of General Motors, etc.
Its joint - venture or holding platforms such as Jinbei Yanfeng, Jinbei Lear, and Jinbei Adient are respectively responsible for door interior panels, instrument panels, complete seat assemblies, seat frames, and accessories. Among them, Jinbei Yanfeng and Jinbei Lear are both core suppliers to BMW Brilliance. The company is using cash to acquire the remaining 50% equity of Jinbei Adient to strengthen profitability and consolidate financial statements. In addition, it has jointly invested 200 million yuan with TCL to establish Yuxin Zhixing, entering the fields of intelligent in - vehicle equipment and AI application software.
On the surface, this cooperation between Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd. and BMW China to become LPs is about jointly investing in the 800 - million - yuan "Shenyang Automobile Industry Investment Fund" with 240 million yuan and 220 million yuan respectively. In essence, it is a deep - seated binding of the industrial chain with the principle of "meeting each other's needs and sharing risks": For Jinbei, part of its profit comes from supplying parts to BMW Brilliance. Against the backdrop of a lack of new vehicle models and the impact of domestic new - energy vehicle startups on BMW's sales, it can only lock in the next - generation orders in advance, expand its supply scope, and consolidate its position in the BMW system by reaching out to early - and mid - stage electrification and intelligentization projects. For BMW China, Shenyang is its largest single - production base globally, and core models such as the 5 Series, X3, X5, and iX3 are all produced here. Facing fierce local competition, BMW needs to tie the Liaoning provincial government, Shenyang state - owned assets, and core suppliers more closely together. By jointly contributing funds, it can gain local policies, scenario testing, supply - chain security, and priority access to new technologies. At the same time, it can leverage social capital with a relatively small amount of funds to provide an acceleration channel of "BMW scenarios + funds + orders" for local startups in new energy, intelligent connected vehicles, new materials, etc., achieving a closed - loop of "local innovation - rapid verification - priority mass production".
The two parties' joint choice of Yueke Mother Fund as the General Partner (GP) is due to its project database and capital channels for science and technology projects in Guangdong. It can introduce cutting - edge resources such as batteries, chips, sensors, and lightweight materials from the Greater Bay Area to Northeast China, creating a demonstration of "southern technology, northern production". With a 7 - year term, 4 - year investment period, and 3 - year exit period, the fund can cover the development cycle of the next - generation vehicle models. Jinbei can use the fund to lock in potential acquisition targets at a low cost, while BMW can use the fund to incubate black - tech that can be quickly introduced into the supply chain. The two parties first shake hands at the capital level, leaving flexible interfaces for subsequent technology, orders, equity, and even joint - ventures. It also meets the investment - promotion and industrial - transformation demands of the local government, making it a "Shenyang solution" that packages the interests of customers, suppliers, local governments, and technological innovation.
Successful Business Leads to Investment
For all enterprises, successful business naturally leads to investment.
In recent years, the development trend of Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co., Ltd. has presented four main lines: "restart of vehicle production + increased output of auto - parts + transformation to new energy + accelerated overseas expansion".
On the vehicle - production side, after Shenyang Automobile Group took over and the restructuring of Brilliance Group was completed, the company has deeply bound with Geely Remote. In December 2024, it launched two pure - electric blind - window light - passenger vehicles, the Jiyun E6 and E9. In early 2025, it launched the version with windows, and in the middle of the year, it will launch the alcohol - hydrogen - electric version. It also plans to restart the modification of the Haise series by the end of the year, forming a product matrix that combines traditional energy and new energy.
On the auto - parts side, the company regards the interior and seat projects of BMW's new - generation models as its core growth points. Although its revenue slightly decreased year - on - year in the first three quarters of 2024 due to the transition between old and new projects, its gross profit margin continued to recover. It also continued to extend to the secondary supply chain, supplying plastic parts and assemblies for first - tier BMW suppliers such as Yanfeng, Lear, and Schilch, locking in new orders worth 6.27 billion yuan in the next five years.
On the capital side, this time it jointly initiated the 800 - million - yuan Shenyang Automobile Industry Investment Fund with BMW China, Yueke Mother Fund, etc., to pre - emptively target early - and mid - stage electrification and intelligentization projects and strengthen upstream - downstream collaboration.
On the market side, the company has listed "going global" as its second growth curve. In April 2025, it comprehensively launched its overseas systematic layout, adopting the model of KD factories + local adaptation. It has already established production capacity or won orders in Vietnam, Egypt, Malaysia, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Zambia, Bolivia, etc., with the goal of doubling its annual exports compared to the previous year.
After a vehicle - making enterprise has achieved "safe cash flow, stable gross profit margin, and controllable debt ratio" in its main business, it usually enters the stage of "strategic defense + secondary growth". Defense is to prevent its core technology from being disrupted by others, and secondary growth is because selling cars can only achieve linear growth, and it must find a "second curve". Becoming an LP is the "low - risk lever" that can meet both of these requirements at the same time.
Well - managed automakers spend billions of yuan each year on purchasing batteries, chips, software, and new materials. In the past, they relied on bidding and business negotiations. Now, they find that key auto - parts are in short supply, so they convert part of their procurement funds into "LP contributions" - first becoming shareholders of startups and then signing priority supply agreements. As long as the projects grow, they will have the "shareholder price + priority delivery right", which is equivalent to capitalizing in advance the potentially soaring procurement costs in the future and locking in the supply - chain security.
If an automaker conducts in - house pre - research, all the expenses will be included in the profit and loss statement, and the failure rate may be high. By investing in a market - oriented GP and letting the GP cast a wide net, the automaker can then reverse - merge or increase capital in successful projects and only consolidate high - quality assets in its financial statements. In this way, R & D expenditures change from "rigid expenses" to "exit - able assets", making the financial statements lighter and the valuation higher.
Local governments are willing to provide land, subsidies, and pilot scenarios, but they require automakers to bring technology, funds, and an industrial ecosystem. For example, if an automaker invests 100 million yuan as an LP, the government - guided fund will contribute another 100 million yuan, and social capital will raise 300 million yuan. A 500 - million - yuan fund can then leverage a 2 - billion - yuan project to land. Automakers can obtain factory land, road rights, data, and test areas with a small amount of cash, which is much more cost - effective than going it alone.
The average age of mainstream automakers' customers is over 35, while the average age of founders of intelligent - driving, in - vehicle entertainment, and community - travel projects is in their early 30s. By becoming an LP, automakers can open up their brands, scenarios, and data to the invested companies, allowing the latter to prioritize the installation of new functions on their vehicles. This not only conducts technology verification but also makes the brand image more youthful, which is faster and more trendy than in - house incubation.
The prosperity of the automotive industry has a small cycle of three years and a large cycle of six years. During the high - prosperity period, vehicle - making profits are good, and the fund's valuation is high. Automakers can reduce their holdings to recover cash. During the low - prosperity period, the book returns of the fund can offset the decline in sales, acting as a "profit - smoothing cushion" and enabling the capital market to still give the automaker a stable price - earnings ratio.
In short, when well - managed automakers become LPs, it is not because they "have money with no place to spend". Instead, they are monetizing their "industrial influence". By using a minimum amount of capital and leveraging the professional network of GPs, they can nurture a group of technology companies that "may determine their survival in the future" off - balance - sheet, and then transform them into supply chains, new scenarios, new revenues, and government resources.
Investment Beyond the Shanhai Pass
The cooperation between Jinbei and BMW China to become LPs also indicates that the activity level of Northeast China in the investment circle has been increasing this year.
Based on the data disclosed in 2025, the primary market in Northeast China has not experienced an overall explosion, but some sub - sectors have indeed heated up, presenting a pattern of "enthusiasm of government funds, enthusiasm of industrial capital, and lukewarm response from market - oriented funds".
In the first four months, the growth rate of fixed - asset investment reached 7.6%, and the excavator operation rate in May was 60.39%, both ranking first in the country. However, the cumulative growth rate from January to July has dropped to - 3.0%, indicating that private and foreign investment still lags behind after the concentrated start of large infrastructure and energy projects. Medical innovation has become a breakthrough point for venture capital. From 2021 to 2023, eight medical enterprises in the three northeastern provinces went public, breaking the zero record of the previous three years. From 2024 to 2025, Sizherui, a surgical - robot company affiliated with Harbin Institute of Technology, passed the listing review. A total of 17 medical companies received primary - market financing in three years, and leading institutions such as Shenzhen Capital Group and OrbiMed have all made investments. New - energy vehicles and auto - parts follow closely. In 2025, the Shenyang High - tech Zone launched 20 industrial policies, allocating 400 - 500 million yuan annually to support 10 sub - sectors such as intelligent manufacturing, new - energy vehicles and auto - parts, and IC equipment, and for the first time adopted the industrial - chain - chief system to strengthen and supplement the industrial chain. In addition to the two major themes of medical care and automobiles, projects in consumption, TMT, and enterprise services are still scarce, and market - oriented funds continue the strategy of "in - depth exploration of single points".
Liaoning has set the target of an 8% growth rate for fixed - asset investment in 2025. Jilin plans to have 1,500 projects worth over 100 million yuan. Both Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia emphasize using large projects to support structural adjustment. At the same time, Liaoning and Dalian have successively established provincial - and municipal - level listing - preparation echelons to promote the local IPOs of invested enterprises. Industrial leaders such as BMW, Teld, and ThyssenKrupp Ansteel are willing to participate as LPs because they value the government - provided scenarios and exit channels rather than just financial returns. Therefore, the activity level of primary - market investment in Northeast China has rebounded year - on - year in 2025, but there is caution in the month - on - month comparison. There are small up - surges in the medical and new - energy vehicle and auto - parts sectors. The government and industrial capital are the main driving forces, but the overall funds and project volume of market - oriented VCs/PEs are still relatively cold, and a full - scale boom has not been formed. Whether the leading operation rate can be transformed into continuous venture - capital activity depends on whether private funds can follow up and the actual implementation of exit channels such as the A - share market and the Beijing Stock Exchange.
In the future, the opportunities in the primary market of Northeast China may be concentrated in three major directions: "leveraging government mother funds, industrial leaders becoming LPs, and two sub - sectors of hard technology and medical care". The core logic is shifting from "investing in the early stage" to "investing in supporting industries, investing in scenarios, and investing in exit opportunities".
The 30 - billion - yuan "Changxing Fund" in Changchun, the 10 - billion - yuan market - oriented mother fund in Shenyang, and the 20 - billion - yuan "Heilongjiang Modern Industrial Investment Guidance Fund" have been successively launched. All three provinces have set a quantitative target of "fund management scale exceeding 100 billion yuan by 2025" and generally adopt the dual - wheel model of "sub - funds + direct investment". The maximum investment proportion in a single sub - fund can reach 40%, and the reinvestment requirement has been reduced to 1 - 1.2 times. The profit - sharing concessions are leading in the country, providing sufficient "safety cushions" for market - oriented GPs.
The listing of consumer - medical and agricultural - product brands such as Fuljia and October Rice has driven private hospitals, medical - aesthetic devices, high - value consumables, and surgical - robot enterprises to be included in the due - diligence lists in batches. Universities such as Harbin Institute of Technology, China Medical University, and Jilin University output thousands of medical - engineering doctors every year. The startup teams have solid technology and clear equity structures, making them the preferred destinations for the overflow of medical