Bosch doubles down on China innovation

In the 1990s, Bosch established major joint ventures in China's rapidly growing automotive sector. In 1995, it partnered with Wuxi Weifu to produce diesel injection systems and also formed a joint venture with Zhonglian Automotive Electronics, which later evolved into United Automotive Electronic Systems, now a key player in China's automotive electronics industry.

In 1994, Bosch's home appliance business also entered China, bringing German engineering products directly to Chinese consumers at a time when household demand for durable goods was beginning to expand.

The timing proved crucial. China's automotive sector was entering an era of exponential growth, driven by urbanization, infrastructure expansion, and rising household incomes.

"In 1993, China produced only around 1 million vehicles," Xu said. "By 2025, vehicle production exceeded 34 million units."

Bosch expanded in parallel with this industrial surge. Today, the company operates 38 manufacturing sites and 28 research and development centers in China, employing around 57,000 people, including more than 11,000 R&D engineers.

According to Xu, Bosch has invested more than 60 billion yuan ($8.3 billion) in China over the past decade alone, with annual investments consistently ranging between 5 billion and 6 billion yuan.

For many years, Bosch's China strategy primarily focused on transferring technologies developed in Germany into the Chinese market. This model emphasized localization of production but not necessarily innovation origination.

However, that structure has changed fundamentally during the past decade, driven by China's rapid rise in electrification, digitalization, and intelligent mobility.

Xu described 2013 as "the first year of China's new energy vehicle era", marking a turning point in the automotive industry.

At that time, China produced only about 15,000 new energy vehicles. By 2025, annual production had surged to more than 16 million units, making China the global leader in electric mobility transformation.

This shift forced global suppliers like Bosch to rethink their development model. Electrification, automation, and connectivity became central pillars of the industry, replacing traditional combustion-engine-centric engineering.

"The first stage was bringing German technology to China," Xu said. "The second stage is innovating new products and technologies together with Chinese partners in China."

Bosch has since expanded its China-based R&D activities into next-generation fields, including fuel cells, 48-volt vehicle architecture, eAxle, by-wire technology, and intelligent chassis.

Increasingly, China is not just a place where technologies are adapted — it is where new technologies are first developed before being deployed globally.