General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has announced a collaborative strategy to support the Chinese government's pursuit of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly transportation that will be based on the principle of "in China, with China, for China."
The company's first initiative is the establishment of the GM Center for Advanced Science and Research. The facility will be part of a new US$250 million GM campus in Shanghai. The center will carry out advanced research projects in partnership with the Chinese government, industry partners and academic institutions.
The second initiative is the establishment of the China Automotive Energy Research Center, a collaborative effort with Beijing's Tsinghua University and GM's strategic partner in China, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group. CAERC will work with various stakeholders in government, academia and related industries to develop a comprehensive and integrated automotive energy strategy for China. GM and SAIC will jointly provide a five-year, US$5 million grant to Tsinghua University to establish CAERC.
"The new GM Center for Advanced Science and Research will support China as it undertakes one of the most rapid technological transformations in world history," Wagoner said. "It is designed to bring together various resources, including SAIC's new Energy Unit, to accelerate research in the areas of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly automotive technologies, as well as alternative fuel pathways that are socially responsible, economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and technologically feasible."
The state-of-the-art facility will be situated at GM's new corporate campus in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, which will be home to GM's operations in China, including its Asia Pacific headquarters. The first phase of construction is slated for completion in late 2008.
