China steers its way to capture world's automobile industry

The industry is set for more upheaval as China unravels a two-decade policy that capped foreign ownership of carmaking ventures at 50 per cent

On a bright spring day in Amsterdam, car buffs stepped inside a blacked-out warehouse to nibble on lamb skewers and sip rhubarb cocktails courtesy of Lynk & Co, which was showing off its new hybrid SUV.

What seemed like just another launch of a new vehicle was actually something more: the coming-out party for China’s globally ambitious auto industry. For the first time, a Chinese-branded car will be made in Western Europe for sale there, with the ultimate goal of landing in US showrooms. That’s the master plan of billionaire Li Shufu, who has catapulted from founding Geely Group as a