Embracing openness for win-win industrial growth

Editor's note: Beyond the Horizon brings together influential minds from business, science and beyond to explore transformative trends, share profound insights and offer forward-looking perspectives on the future.

In the APEC China Year, CGTN and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade present "My Vision for APEC," featuring business leaders' insights into industry trends and their visions for the future of Asia-Pacific. Cao Dewang is the founder and lifetime honorary chairman of Fuyao Group. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

This November marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Fuyao Group (the world's largest automotive glass manufacturer), coinciding with the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen. As a Chinese entrepreneur who has spent five decades building a business in the manufacturing sector, I have come to deeply appreciate that Fuyao's growth has been made possible by the favorable environment created by China's reform and opening up, the government's strong support for the private sector, and the freedom and cooperation that underpin global trade. Below are some of my thoughts from my entrepreneurial journey.

First, products must meet market demand and serve a clear purpose. Every business needs a well-defined product positioning and should provide products that meet the needs of the country, society and the people.

In the 1980s, China relied entirely on imports for automotive glass, with a single piece costing thousands of yuan (hundreds of US dollars). Recognizing the gap in the market, I responded to the call for reform and opening up and made it my mission to "make a piece of glass of our own for the Chinese people."

From that point on, Fuyao stayed focused on its core business of automotive glass, resisting the temptation to chase trends and instead pursuing steady, dedicated development. After five decades of continuous exploration and practice, now, Fuyao's products have earned the trust and recognition of leading automakers, including Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. Today, Fuyao holds a 35% share of the global market, ranking first worldwide.

Secondly, quality must be refined with meticulous care in the pursuit of excellence. Product quality is the lifeline of any business. Fuyao developed a quality management model centered on four pillars: products, people, quality and standards of excellence. By embedding quality accountability into every stage of production, we ensure consistent quality under rigorous standards for leading automakers worldwide.

In 2021, the forementioned Fuyao-innovated quality management model received the China Quality Award, which is the highest-level national honor in the quality field open to all types of organizations, setting an example of excellence in Chinese manufacturing.

Thirdly, innovation must be practical and pursued with perseverance. At Fuyao, we focus on practical innovation and sustained progress. In the early years, key glass manufacturing technologies were monopolized by foreign companies, so we developed our own equipment to meet our needs. Today, 90% of our production equipment is manufactured in-house.

We have also adopted advanced technologies such as intelligent manufacturing and artificial intelligence-powered inspection to digitally integrate the entire process, from research and development (R&D) and production to logistics, enabling the precise delivery of customized products. Over the past decade, Fuyao has invested more than 10 billion yuan (nearly $1.5 billion) in R&D, consistently allocating around 4% of its annual revenue to research and development. We now operate 10 design centers and two R&D centers across the Asia-Pacific, including China, Japan and South Korea, with a team of more than 6,000 R&D professionals.

In product innovation, we have kept pace with the automotive industry's transformation toward electrification, intelligence, connectivity and shared mobility. This has led to the development of advanced products such as glass with integrated 5G antennas, lightweight low-carbon glass and smart dimming glass, designed to meet the specific needs of new energy and intelligent vehicles.

In addition, businesses should embrace globalization and adapt to the broader trend.

As China accelerated its "going global" strategy and joined the World Trade Organization, Fuyao expanded its presence in international markets. We secured automotive glass supply agreements with renowned automakers and established sales and service operations in Germany, Japan, South Korea and the US.

In 2014, Fuyao acquired a former General Motors plant in Ohio, and two years later completed what became the world's largest single-site automotive glass factory, marking a new phase of accelerated international expansion. Since then, Fuyao has invested more than $1 billion in the US, establishing factories across four states, and building an integrated, efficient and flexible supply chain. Today, Fuyao is the world's largest specialized automotive glass supplier, with production bases and business operations in 18 provinces and municipalities across China and 13 countries worldwide.

Some Americans have said that Fuyao helped revive their "Rust Belt." I see this as a win-win outcome of globalization. Our decision to establish factories in the US was never about displacing or replacing local businesses, but about complementing the country's existing industries.

Over the past decade, we have fully respected local laws and regulations, customs, cultural traditions and religious beliefs. Guided by the principles of "understanding, trust, respect and responsibility," we have created more than 4,000 jobs, building strong, harmonious relationships with local employees, communities and governments. Fuyao has also served as a bridge for communication between China and the US, helping people overseas gain a more accurate understanding of China's manufacturing industry.

Throughout the years, wherever I have invested and developed our business, I have adhered to the philosophy of complying with laws and regulations, focusing on interested parties and sticking to perfection.

This philosophy is particularly relevant to cross-border investment. As investors, we serve as a link connecting businesses, employees, suppliers and consumers across different countries. We must never pursue quick profits at the expense of long-term development. Instead, we should safeguard our technological strengths and competitiveness while becoming deeply integrated into local ecosystems, creating value for local communities and achieving mutual benefits for all parties.

The theme of the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together," underscores the enduring importance of openness, cooperation and mutual benefit. These principles are also fundamental to the growth and success of manufacturing companies like Fuyao.

Today, we are facing the tide of global rise of new energy vehicles and intelligent manufacturing, and China's continued efforts to deepen its reform and opening up, alongside with the profound changes unseen in a century. These evolving global dynamics call on us to work harder and continue advancing through openness and cooperation. People around the world also look to China to make its market more accessible and help ensure that the benefits of globalization are shared more widely.

Looking ahead, I believe China's ingenuity will contribute more to the world through innovation, green development and cultural progress. APEC economies, in turn, will continue to deepen cooperation in areas such as technological R&D, talent exchanges and supply chain development, enabling more people to share in the benefits of collaboration.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)