The Beijing Autoshow 2018 got underway on Wednesday. The first day is open to the press only. Our own Xia Cheng takes us for a sneak peek of what this year's show has to offer.

The Beijing auto show 2018 will present debuts of more than a hundred cars. If 2016 is anything to go by, more than 800 thousand visitors will pass through the halls. Traditional big auto brands, including luxury names, are going electric and tech savvy to fit in the world's largest auto market.

Volkswagen is fast pivoting towards e-cars after its diesel gate scandal. Nearly every brand and segment of the company will get some sort of electric offering. We are talking about Bentley, Porsche and Lamborghini. Nissan, once the maker of the world's best-selling electric car, has three e-cars at this show.

BMW took the covers off the IX3 electric SUV. It is also showing its pure electric iVision Dynamics concept car, which will be called i4 for mass production. Ford is bringing 5 new models to China this year, hoping to reverse a sales decline in this market.

It is planning to have its own fleet of autonomous driving vehicles by 2021 for both passengers and freight transport. Meanwhile, the new breed of automakers is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Tesla -- everyone's benchmark, is here. It is expected to set up a fully owned China factory, as the country opens up its auto sector, that is, if Tesla can get over the current cashflow and supply snags.

And Tesla has a bunch of up and comers filling up the competitive field. Quite a few already with production cars. NIO, widely seen as the most cashed up and likely to succeed new automaker, has set up a Nio House at the show. It's delivering the EP8 model to customers as we speak. While Weltmeister, nicknamed the Xiaomi of cars, is offering much cheaper electric SUVs than most of the competition. XC for CGTN From the Bejing Auto Show 2018.