Wuhu hosts 2026 auto new materials conference

By Zhao Dandan and Deng Jian | wuhu.gov.cn

The 2026 International Conference on New Materials in Automotive Industry (ICNMAI) opened in Wuhu. Attendees at the opening ceremony included Hou Fushen, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Society of Automotive Engineers, director general of the China Auto Lightweight Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance; Ai Hong, vice-chairman of the Anhui Association for Science and Technology; Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd.; and Zhu Zi, vice mayor of Wuhu.

The conference, themed "The Super-Intelligent Materials Ecosystem: From Atomic Programming to Industrial Reconstruction", featured six academicians and dozens of experts delivering keynote reports. It included one main venue and eight parallel sessions, along with technology showcases by universities and research institutions and one-on-one matchmaking between experts and Chery. The event focused on cutting-edge and disruptive technologies in automotive materials, exploring the latest advances and application prospects to drive innovation in the sector.

The automotive industry, Wuhu's leading sector, accounted for 1.83 million vehicles produced in 2025 — nearly half of Anhui's total — with revenue exceeding 680 billion yuan. With support from Anhui province and Wuhu, Chery's Kaiyang Laboratory has built 36 specialized labs covering embodied AI, flying cars, new energy and energy storage, and future transportation. The lab has achieved breakthroughs in solid-state batteries, vector-controlled dual-motor systems and autonomous driving foundation models, translating over 200 projects into applications and serving more than 1,000 companies along the supply chain.