Has a Chinese city achieved what Detroit, USA, failed to do?

Detroit is a well - known "declining city" in the United States. In the 1920s, it was one of the most prosperous cities in the country because it was the cradle of the American automobile industry. The first Ford car was born here, and automotive giants such as General Motors and Chrysler also gathered here.

However, with the rise of German and Japanese cars and the outbreak of the oil crisis, Detroit's economy, which relied solely on the automobile industry, lost its market. The economic situation continued to deteriorate, and finally, in 2013, it filed for bankruptcy and gradually became one of the most depressed cities in the United States.

Thomas Sugrue, an American historian, summarized this phenomenon: Detroit "was born with cars and died with cars."

The depressed Detroit

For many cities with a single - industry economy, they can indeed enjoy the dividends of the era during the boom period. However, this comfort zone can also easily make cities lose the motivation to pursue innovation and change, and eventually be eliminated by the times.

However, on the other side of the ocean in China, Shiyan City in Hubei Province, known as the "Detroit of the East," is trying to provide a different answer through its ups and downs over the past half - century.

In 2025, the total industrial output value above the designated size in Shiyan in the first three quarters increased by 10.4% year - on - year, ranking among the top in the country. It didn't wallow in the past glory of being the "Truck Capital" nor abandon its profound industrial foundation. Instead, it rejuvenated the city by injecting new green productive forces.

01

Shiyan, very much like Detroit

In 1969, Shiyan, hidden deep in the Qinba Mountains, was just a newly - established county - level city with a GDP of only 460 million. It mainly relied on slash - and - burn agriculture and small - scale handicrafts.

However, in this very year, great fortune came to Shiyan.

Following the success of the "First Automobile Works," the project of the "Second Automobile Works," which was a "backup" for China's independent automobile industry, was launched. Originally, the Second Automobile Works was planned to be located in Wuhan. But due to the national strategy of the "Third - Front Construction" at that time, it gave up Wuhan and chose Shiyan, which was "close to the mountains, scattered, and hidden."

The Second Automobile Works was successfully built

It was precisely because of the settlement of the Second Automobile Manufacturing Plant that this mountainous town with only a hundred households suddenly gathered 100,000 people from all over the country to support the construction, and transformed into China's first independent automobile industrial base.

In the 1970s, with the launch of the first Dongfeng automobile, China's automobile industry with complete independent intellectual property rights came into being. Shiyan was thus hailed as the "Detroit of the East."

In the 1980s, the Second Automobile Works took the lead in transforming from military to civilian production. The Dongfeng trucks they produced quickly occupied the national market, and Shiyan became the largest production base for medium - and heavy - duty commercial vehicles in the country, known as the "Truck Capital of China."

In 1992, the Second Automobile Works was renamed Dongfeng Motor Corporation. The automobile industry brought high - value - added and high - growth development to Shiyan. In its heyday, the per - capita disposable income in Shiyan once ranked among the top six in the country, and its GDP even accounted for nearly 3% of the national total.

However, beneath the legend, there were also hidden worries. The structural risk of over - relying on a single industry broke out in 2003.

In 2003, China surpassed Germany to become the world's third - largest automobile consumer country. Also in this year, the headquarters of Dongfeng Motor Corporation "moved its capital" from Shiyan to Wuhan, and the pain began.

Since 2004, Shiyan's industry has been in a continuous slump. Its growth rate was lower than the provincial average for three consecutive years, and at the end of 2006, it ranked at the bottom of the province.

People can't help but worry: Will Shiyan follow in the footsteps of Detroit across the ocean?

Fortunately, the story didn't go that way.

02

Transformation, transformation!

After a brief period of confusion, Shiyan City came up with its own way of transformation: Although the headquarters of Dongfeng left, more than a hundred automobile parts enterprises that had been rooted in Shiyan around Dongfeng for many years remained. Why not develop its own enterprises?

In 2007, Shiyan proposed to focus on supporting a number of industrial enterprises with an annual revenue of over 100 million within four years. Guided by a series of important policies, with the "independent and self - reliant" spirit of the Second Automobile Works, Shiyan completed the goal one year ahead of schedule. The number of automobile parts enterprises increased to 200, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles, more than 4,000 kinds of automobile assemblies and parts, and 200,000 industrial workers. It regained the top position as China's commercial vehicle base once again.

During this process, Dongfeng Motor has always been a strong backing for Shiyan's transformation, leaving orders, resources, and many senior technicians in Shiyan.

The hometown of Dongfeng in Zhangwan, Shiyan

Entering the new - energy era, Shiyan didn't stick to the old - fashioned thinking like Detroit. Instead, it actively transformed and actively moved closer to the new - energy industry, fully promoting the evolution of the commercial vehicle technology route towards diversification and cleaner directions such as pure - electric, hybrid, and fuel - cell. It also encouraged local parts enterprises to upgrade to the new - energy and intelligent - connected fields.

It was precisely this courage to innovate and the favorable industrial support policies that attracted a number of leading enterprises representing different industrial directions to settle in Shiyan again.

For example, Wanrun New Energy, a globally leading supplier of lithium - battery cathode materials; EVATEC Intelligent Equipment, a leading enterprise in China's industrial robot industry; and Envision AESC, the world's first unicorn enterprise to achieve large - scale mass production of power batteries.

Data shows that in 2020, the production of new - energy vehicles in Shiyan was less than 10,000, but by 2024, it increased to 107,000. Among them, the production of new - energy heavy - duty trucks increased by 264% year - on - year. High - value - added high - end models such as pure - electric heavy - duty mining trucks have also been launched, and the export proportion exceeds half.

More importantly, Shiyan's industrial structure has also undergone a qualitative change. "In the past, the output value of the automobile and automobile parts industries accounted for 80% of Zhangwan District. Now, with the settlement of enterprises like Envision, the proportion of the automobile industry has dropped to 67%, and the industrial structure has become more reasonable." The introduction by Shen Wu, the deputy director of the Development and Reform Bureau of Zhangwan District in Shiyan, outlines the clear context of Shiyan's industrial transformation. Many emerging industrial chain leaders like Envision AESC are jointly building a "dual - engine" to support the city's future with Dongfeng, the "old chain leader."

03

Not just about automobiles

Shiyan's wisdom in transformation lies in its profound understanding of the difference between "path dependence" and "path extension."

It didn't abandon the automobile industrial foundation accumulated over decades, including mature industrial workers, a complete supply - chain system, and a profound manufacturing culture. Instead, it regarded this accumulation as the most precious strategic asset and injected new connotations into it.

The establishment of Envision AESC's Shiyan Super Factory is a typical example of "path extension."

In 2022, Envision AESC came to Shiyan to set up a factory because of the rich industrial foundation and outstanding investment - promotion policies. This project, with a total investment of over 10 billion and a production capacity of 20GWh, created the amazing "Shiyan speed" and "Zhangwan efficiency."

Driven by the strong impetus of the city - and district - level governments listing it as the "Number One Project," Envision and the government and enterprises in Shiyan worked together to create the following records: The project started 26 days after signing the contract, the first module production line was put into mass production in 180 days, the first cell production line was put into operation in 300 days, and the world - class zero - carbon benchmark factory was completed in 330 days.

Envision AESC's zero - carbon intelligent battery industrial park

The project was signed, constructed, put into operation, and included in the statistics of enterprises above the designated size in the same year.

Behind this high efficiency is the full - fledged effort of the local government in Zhangwan District, Shiyan City. It set up a working group to handle all construction procedures on behalf of the enterprise, helped the enterprise build factories, substations, dedicated lines, steam pipe networks, and talent apartments.

Such an outstanding business environment also allows enterprises like Envision to seize the market window period without distractions.

In 2024, the annual output value of Envision AESC's Shiyan Super Factory exceeded 10 billion yuan. The power batteries and energy - storage batteries it produced were sold to Europe and the United States, and its export volume ranked among the top in the city.

As a globally leading intelligent battery technology company, Envision AESC has also brought multiple "empowerments" to Shiyan:

Firstly, it is the standard empowerment: Its vehicle - grade intelligent manufacturing system and zero - carbon management concept have promoted the overall "upgrading" of the quality and technology of local supporting enterprises, strengthening Shiyan's advantage in the new - energy automobile industry chain.

Secondly, it is the vision empowerment: The global market layout allows Shiyan's enterprises to directly contact international cutting - edge demands and rules, which is more conducive to promoting the overseas expansion of Shiyan's local enterprises and even Dongfeng Motor.

Thirdly, it is the ecological empowerment: As a global unicorn enterprise, the settlement of Envision has attracted many upstream and downstream enterprises to gather, gradually forming a complete new - energy energy - storage industrial chain from materials, cells to system integration in Shiyan.

Meanwhile, Dongfeng, the "old chain leader," has not been absent from the new era either.

Decades of development have accumulated unparalleled industrial heritage for Zhangwan and even the whole of Shiyan City.

There are not only 5 headquarters enterprises of Dongfeng Motor Corporation here, but also more than 1,000 local supporting enterprises, forming a commercial vehicle industrial cluster with great influence both in China and globally.

In recent years, Dongfeng has continued to make efforts in the field of new - energy commercial vehicles. It has jointly established an intelligent driving research center with Tsinghua University in Shiyan and laid out a hydrogen - energy project for the future.

Of course, in the process of investment promotion, Shiyan's layout also shows a strategic vision that goes beyond the city itself:

In the national - level automobile industrial cluster of "Wuhan - Xiangyang - Shiyan - Suizhou" in Hubei Province, Shiyan has precisely positioned itself in the new tracks of new - energy commercial vehicles and energy storage, developed in a differentiated way and advanced in coordination with brother cities such as Wuhan (passenger cars) and Xiangyang (light trucks), without getting caught in the whirlpool of low - quality involution.

More importantly, Shiyan has closely linked its city's destiny with the national "dual - carbon" strategy. By deeply integrating its own resource endowment with macro - policy opportunities, it has embarked on a transformation path that serves the national overall situation through industrial upgrading.

Moreover, the effectiveness of this transformation has soon been demonstrated. As the pioneer of large - size energy - storage cells, Envision AESC is the world's earliest enterprise to develop, mass - produce, and apply energy - storage cells of over 300Ah on a large scale. The 315Ah energy - storage cell products produced by the Shiyan factory have an 11% higher energy density than the previous generation and a cycle life of up to 12,000 times. This means that with one charge - discharge cycle per day, it can operate safely and stably for more than 25 years.

The excellent product quality has attracted the favor of international leading customers. In the first three quarters of 2025, the output value of Envision AESC's Shiyan Super Factory increased by 49% year - on - year. It not only supplies domestic leading export - oriented automobile enterprises such as Dongfeng Yijie, but also sells well in overseas markets such as North America, France, and Finland. Its export volume ranks among the top in Shiyan, becoming a new engine for Shiyan's foreign trade growth.

In terms of the industrial structure,