BMW AG Chairman Oliver Zipse said the automaker will debut its first Neue Klasse model designed specifically for China at the Beijing Auto Show, showcasing a new fusion of German engineering and Chinese digital innovation.
Ties between the two sides are in the spotlight this week as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in China on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, his first since taking office last May. Zipse is among senior executives from around 30 leading German companies accompanying the chancellor on the trip.
«It is the most Chinese car we’ve ever built, tailored specifically to the needs and wishes of our Chinese customers,» said Zipse in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday.
Zipse stressed that the car’s innovations stem directly from BMW’s deep partnerships with Chinese tech leaders.
«It features many innovations from our partnerships with leading Chinese players as, for example, battery cells come from CATL, autonomous driving stack is jointly developed with Momenta, and the large language model for the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is the result of our longstanding partnership with Alibaba,» he said.
He presented these partnerships as a blueprint for the future of the global auto industry.
«These features are a perfect example of cross-border collaboration, joint pioneering spirit and mutual openness,» Zipse said.
The 2026 Beijing Auto Show is scheduled to be held in Beijing from April 24 to May 3.
BMW to unveil China-tailored Neue Klasse at Beijing Auto Show
A team of young drone operators in Kunshan City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, is embracing the promising future of the low-altitude economy at home and abroad.
With the development of the unmanned aerial vehicle industry, drone pilots have become a new occupation for young professionals to take part in drone-related research, development and tests.
The team of drone pilots, most of whom were born after 2000, conducts test flights of drones every day. They cooperate well with each other to operate drones and collect data about the aircraft in different conditions.
Wang Jihao, the 26-year-old leader of the 27-member team, said the test flight is the last step before a drone is delivered to its buyer, so they need to make a lot of preparations for the test flight.
«Our preparatory meeting will conclude with a plan for the next day’s flight task. It covers the status of aircraft and operators, the meteorological conditions and even the movements during the flight,» said Wang.
Besides Kunshan, the team also has carried out test flights in other places like Taizhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province, where they operated a drone to fly more than 50 kilometers from the downtown to Dachen Island and return. The round-trip test aimed to verify the operation capability of the drone to ensure regular cross-sea drone delivery service for the Dachen Island in the future.
The team also conducted a drone flight in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, despite meteorological challenges in the desert area such as high temperatures.
A map in the meeting room records the footprint of the drone pilots.
«In 2025, we set off from the Kunshan base, and flew approximately 45,000 kilometers in nearly 1,000 flights by year-end. So, in total, the mileage exceeded the circumference of our Earth,» said Wang. With great passion for drone flights, the pilots take more pride in performing significant tasks.
On Feb 5, the team operated China’s first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with a takeoff weight exceeding five tons, and completed its first public flight.
Young Chinese drone pilots embrace low-altitude economy
