An article posted by the Wall Street Journal informs that Chinese officials are considering a 10-year plan that would turn the country in the world leader when it comes to green models, regardless if we're talking about hybrids or electric vehicles. How exactly? Pretty simple: force foreign automakers share their technologies, thus allowing local companies copy and implement them into their very own products.
Fair or not, it seems like the project is already in an advanced stage, as some of the terms have already been clinched. It looks like companies who want to sell green cars in China have to form a joint venture with local carmakers in which they would only be able to hold a minority stake. The government is also looking into ways of establishing a large charging infrastructure to support the adoption of greener models, a move that would cost the taxpayers around $15 billion.
So, what do carmakers believe about this? "We don't like this," a foreign company representative told the aforementioned source. And it's not an isolated case at all, many entities, including the Redmond-based software giant Microsoft and General Electric, have already raised concerns over the business conditions established by China.
China's reaction? Not at all afraid that companies might go away from the country, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that foreign brands have grown a lot in the recent period and they would continue to do so even under the new regulation? How? We don't know exactly. "China is committed to creating an open and fair environment for foreign-invested enterprises. Foreign-invested enterprises in China on the whole enjoy a good environment and have reaped good returns," he said.
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