Corruption Undermines Safety in China’s Auto Industry: Insider

As China’s automobile industry has rapidly developed and expanded into the international market in recent years, an industry insider has revealed to The Epoch Times that performance, safety, and durability issues in Chinese cars are rooted in systemic corruption within the Chinese communist regime.

Huang Guocheng, a former automotive mechanical structural design engineer in Guangxi Province, joined a well-known Chinese auto company after graduating from university in 2004. He told The Epoch Times recently that Chinese auto companies generally focus their research and development on eye-catching elements—such as appearance, color, and interior trim—but place less emphasis on performance and safety.

Huang said that this design requires an additional transmission structure, which weakens the collision resistance of the car body.

In terms of performance, Huang said that there is a clear gap between Chinese cars and international brands.

“Some domestic cars may have rusted chassis, loose parts, and various abnormal noises after driving for two or three years; while foreign brands of the same level, such as Toyota’s Corolla or Volkswagen’s Jetta, perform stably. This is due to differences in quality control and production standards,” he said.

Although Chinese cars have made progress in battery life and charging technology, “they are clearly lacking in core safety technologies such as braking systems, chassis rust prevention, electronic protection, and overheating warnings,” he said.

He compared Chinese cars with international brands like Volvo, “whose active safety systems such as the ability to automatically correct behavior when driving errors occur and avoid obstacles are still extremely rare in Chinese-made cars.”

As to the reason for the difference, Huang explained that in order to catch up with government subsidies and policy dividends, Chinese automakers generally have hasty R&D processes and poor product stability. Huang criticized this “quick push and quick sale” model, which is completely different from the practice of regular international companies to repeatedly test a car model for many years.

“Many safety tests are led by government agencies, and if the car companies don’t ‘give them benefits’, the testing procedures will be difficult for the companies,” he said.

Another issue Huang revealed is that “in order to pass the inspection, many car companies use additional reinforcing materials such as thick steel plates and fireproof cotton for ‘special samples’ of the vehicles submitted for testing.“ but ”in actual mass production, they cut corners to save costs, resulting in the coexistence of two sets of standards, leaving major safety risks.”

The purchasing departments are also corruption-stricken areas, Huang said, as many auto company purchasing managers are relatives of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and can almost bypass the normal supervision system.

“As long as they send enough (bribes), suppliers with poor quality can also enter the supply chain,” Huang said, adding that this buried the quality problem from the source.

Huang noted that these problems are prevalent in the industry. Mainland Chinese media reported some of the high-profile cases.

In August 2024, Chen Demei, former vice president of Shanghai Automotive Group, was found to have used his power to purchase products from his son’s company at high prices and illegally accepted bribes.

In 2023, Xiaopeng Motors was exposed to supply chain corruption, with its seat procurement costs inflated to as much as 1,200 yuan ($167). In 2022, Ideal Auto’s purchasing director was arrested for “accepting bribery by non-state employees.”

Another related issue is that there is often no accountability for accidents caused by car quality issues because of the close relationship between manufacturers and government departments, according to Huang.

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