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Foreign marques are racing to showcase new models made with Chinese technology at a high-profile auto show in the country this week
Companies such as Volkswagen and Nissan Motor now aim not only to win back local customers but also to push into overseas markets with vehicles built on cutting-edge Chinese know-how.
Volkswagen has leveraged its partnerships with Chinese electric vehicle startup Xpeng, in which the German group owns a 5% stake, and self-driving chipmaker Horizon Robotics to add more software-defined cars to its lineup, with systems that control features such as the powertrain and infotainment.
"The experience of high innovation speed [in China] ... we can carry over to other processes around the world," Volkswagen's chief executive, Oliver Blume, told local Chinese media this week.
Another foreign player, Nissan, has adopted an "in China, for China, to global" strategy aimed at absorbing Chinese companies' technology and repositioning China as a regional export hub.
Nissan has promised to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in China by the end of the year and increase combined China sales and exports to 1 million units by 2030.
Honda introduced to Japanese consumers its China-made Insight electric car -- the first of its kind -- developed from the e:NS2 model under the Japanese automaker's joint venture with Dongfeng.
Hyundai is working with Baidu, ByteDance and Momenta on self-driving technology.