"From Luoyang, Chang'an, the Hexi Corridor, the Eurasian steppe to the Mediterranean, from the imperial palaces of the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Turkic khane tents to the palaces of Eastern Rome, the Sogdians, who were born in Eurasia, accurately perceived the pulse of the world. This alliance of city-states sandwiched between the forces of various countries, with its flexible figure and excellent organizational power, built a first-class commercial network, which affected the Eurasian continent in the Middle Ages. ”
Edward Hetzel Schafer, an American naturalist and sinologist who has been dead for 33 years, described the glory of Samarkand, the second largest city in Uzbekistan, thousands of years ago, in his famous book "The Golden Peach of Samarkand: A Study of Tang Dynasty Imports". And there, in fact, is also the hometown of Karimov, the former ** of Ukraine.
Samarkand was called Kangguo in ancient times, and Yelu Chucai, an important minister of the Yuan Dynasty, once said that it was "a thinker who is a westerner, and he is also known for the fertility of the soil." The golden peach produced here, because it is "as big as a goose egg and its color is like gold", is a symbol of trade between the Sogdians and the Tang Empire on the ancient Silk Road.
Thousands of years later, in this ancient capital once on a par with Jerusalem and Damascus, only the Bibi Hanum Mosque, the prototype of the Taj Mahal, remains. The legendary big city is now closer to Xi'an, China, 20 years ago, and Chevrolet and BYD on the road have to be extra careful of the two nullahs on the side of the road in the old city if they want to open the gas pedal.
As the most populous of the five Central Asian countries and a double landlocked country (all five of its neighbors are landlocked themselves), the legacy of the former Soviet era still persists. The most typical is the high dome and marble bazaar. Some visitors described the smell of the mixture on a sweltering summer day, from the fishy smell of seafood to the rotting smell of vegetables, from the unique smell of poultry feces to the sweaty smell that small traders and vendors are accustomed to.
Of course, the reputation of "Asian Pilaf Center" can also be vividly reflected here. The rich aroma of cumin is combined with mutton and carrot oil, and a bowl of pilaf is served in a large pot for only more than 20 yuan. In a monthly income, you can often only buy five high-speed rail tickets - remember, the price of high-speed rail in Ukraine is only 03 yuan, which is the lowest in the world - this expenditure is like the next restaurant.
The iron fist is gone, but from Karimov to Mirziyoyev, from Samarkand to Tashkent, Ukraine, with its current per capita GDP of less than $2,000 – one-sixth of China's – can only find its way out of the vast landlocked territory of the former Soviet Union in Central Asia by jumping together with the new Silk Road a thousand years later.
Among them, industry is the first to bear the brunt. Therefore, some authoritative people commented: the development of industry is not one of the choices, but the only one. The question is, can Uzbekistan, which was originally short of resources, still be able to serve "golden peaches" this time? The answer is: work with the Chinese, and there will be naturally.
On January 25, 2024, in the Inzak Special Economic Zone of Uzbekistan, 190 kilometers away from Tashkent and more than 100 kilometers away from Samarkand, BYD Company, which had turned the heyday of the "Qin, Han, Tang, Song and Yuan" dynasties into ready-made money printing machines, began to jointly launch the production of BYD's Uzbekistan factory with its Uzbek partners.
Either from the tacit understanding between the two sides, or it may be to avoid some populist risks, the planned production of the Song PLUS DM-i and Chaser 05 (the latter is sold in Ukraine and BYD Chazor, a specific regional brand), compared with the "Tang", can better hide the stereotype of the fate of Gao Xianzhi left by Gao Xianzhi in the Tang Empire's Anxi Jiedu in the Battle of Talas in 751 AD. And the name Chaser, which means "cruiser", is more like the Il-76 strategic transport aircraft produced in the country.
In that year, NATO gave a wingspan of 50The 5-meter, 60-ton Il-76 has a code name: Candid, which literally translates to "Gengzhi". Obviously, turning a sword into a ploughshare, the Oriental people naturally have to think carefully when talking about business.
It takes six hours to fly from Tashkent to Beijing and another three hours to fly from Beijing to Shenzhen. As a witness and practitioner of the "Belt and Road" initiative, Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan personally visited the headquarters of BYD in Shenzhen on the 25th, and presided over the remote launching ceremony of the hybrid and electric vehicle assembly plant built in the country with Wang Chuanfu.
It is reported that the plant will produce 50,000 vehicles per year when completed. Of course, this is just the beginning for Michael. He said that "in the near future" it is necessary to expand the range of models produced at the plant in the Jizzakh region to meet market demand, and the annual production capacity should be increased to 300,000 units.
When a wedding convoy is all".Song
Meals are always eaten one bite at a time, but for a large meal, foreshadowing and preparation are essential.
As early as August 2022, BYD signed a preliminary agreement with uzauto, a state-controlled automobile company in Uzbekistan, to build the plant as a joint venture. Since then, the plant has been known as the "BYD Uzbekistan Plant". In October 2023, the two parties officially signed an investment agreement.
It is worth noting that the Jizzakh plant will handle the entire production cycle, from welding, painting to assembly. "The agreement also gives the joint venture the right to export Uzbekistan-made BYD cars to Central Asian countries," BYD said in an official statement. In other words, if the time comes, Russia may become another destination for the Uzbek-made BYD.
On January 25, when Mirziyoyev arrived at BYD's Pengcheng headquarters, he received the keys to the Yangwang U8, a BYD luxury SUV that cost about $150,000 from the host. In fact, this car is also BYD's 10,000th new energy vehicle in Uzbekistan delivered by Wang to Mirziyoyev.
$150,000, or 10980,000 yuan, which is obviously much beyond the reach of most Uzbek buyers, but Wang Chuanfu seems to know the market demand in Uzbekistan.
BYD Han, the starting price in China is 20There is still a discount for 980,000 yuan, while the starting price in Ukraine is 6100 million soms, equivalent to 350,000 yuan; The 110 km range version of the BYD Song Plus DM-i is priced at 15 in China980,000, while in Ukraine, the starting price is 36.7 billion soms, equivalent to 210,000 yuan. Although BYD's series of products have a premium in Ukraine, compared with the upcoming investment in the factory in Ukraine, even if the difference in the price of 100,000 units after deducting tariffs and transportation costs, the gross profit of 50,000 units of market demand can only be said to be "just starting".
According to reasonable calculations, once the Jizzak production line of BYD's hybrid products is digested from 50,000 to 300,000 per year, it also means that Wang Chuanfu will build another single month 2In the Chinese market of 50,000 units, Uzbekistan may not be as dazzling as the Chinese domestic market, but the growth should not be underestimated. Moreover, Ukraine is still a well-known "oil-poor country", and the energy-saving advantages of hybrid power naturally have a place in the local market.
An interesting detail is that BYD, which was previously exported to the West, generally had to change its brand, such as the Yuan PLUS renamed ATTO 3 before it could land in Japan. But in Tashkent or Samarkand, the acceptance of BYD by Uzbeians is even higher than that of China's first-tier cities. Those who can afford BYD are often local wealthy people. However, when someone uses the BYD Song PLUS for the sake of decency, the scene of the ordinary Santana in the Chinese market forty years ago is likely to be repeated.
Consumers in advanced economies have become accustomed to luxury and have begun to return to simplicity after the pandemic, which is one of the reasons why Tesla has become popular. However, consumers in Central Asia have not yet learned the ostentatious layout, and of course they will prefer the rich configuration of China's new energy vehicles. More importantly, when the European and American car-making powers are fighting and retreating locally for geopolitical reasons, the product characteristics of the Chinese - exquisite + pragmatic ** are precisely the best replacement.
Compared with Ukraine, another market that leapfrogs is Russia, which is looking up to U8. Previously, BYD had announced in September last year that it would start selling the Yangwang U8 in Russia. As of the first week of October last year alone, there were 4,000 bookings. By the end of the same month, the number of orders had exceeded 30,000.
At present, some Russian parallel importers are buying at the cost price of 17.5 million rubles (about 1.38 million yuan) for a single unit. BYD's "Black Warrior" took the Russian Eurasian Land Bridge train from Vladivostok and transported it from the Far East to Moscow and other major cities for sale, which lasted three months and was still in short supply.
For more buyers, the relevance of the brand to the Central Asian market and the Russian market is not only equivalent to BYD's launch in the Chinese domestic market and the debut of the Tokyo Motor Show in Japan. While the carmakers of the cherry blossom country are holding a tape measure to measure their wheelbase and other standard indicators, the vast land of Central Asian countries and the more mature Russian market are obviously where this type of luxury SUV should show its muscles.
Shortly before BYD started production at its Uzbekistan plant, Uzbekistan-based car distribution company Roodell began assembling cars for Wuhu-based Chery Automobile in September 2022. The location, again the Jizzakh region.
Is it a coincidence? Take a look at Mirziyoyev's biography. The encyclopedia shows that he served as the governor of the Jizzakh region from 1996 to 2001, the governor of the Samarkand region since September 2001, and since December 10, 2003, Mi was appointed as the prime minister of Uzbekistan by the then **Karimov, and on December 14, 2016, at the age of 59, he became the second ** of Uzbekistan. It can be said that from the context of governance and the construction of medium- and long-term economic models, Mirziyoyev has inherited Karimov's mantle, and in terms of the degree of openness to the outside world, it is obvious that the latter has his own clearer ideas after taking power.
And Jizzak, the springboard point of his career, has a different symbol.
Confronting the "country ruled by Chevrolet".
Of course, compared with the medium- and long-term expectations of local production and export to the Russian market, the current Uzbek automobile market actually has its own particularities.
Chinese and foreign tourists who have set foot in Tashkent and Samarkand have one of the deepest impressions of this country is that it is full of Chevrolets. It is reported that the peak market share of the latter was as high as 94%. For this reason, the country was once called "the country ruled by Chevrolet".
Why, this country with the manufacturing capacity of the Il-76 is full of American brands? In the early 90s of the last century, shortly after Uzbekistan broke away from the "big brother", the economy, like other Central Asian brothers, immediately came to a standstill. As the most populous country in Central Asia, the country has large fields of high-quality cotton, but its economy cannot be sustained by one crop. As a result, Islam Karimov, who was the iron fist at the time, immediately made a decision to establish an automobile company and regain the heavy industry of the former Soviet era.
This car factory, named uzauto, is wholly owned by U** and is currently fully cooperating with BYD.
In 1996, South Korea's Daewoo, an emerging car company, took a fancy to this oasis, and the two sides established a joint venture UZDAEWOO. Its first model to roll off the assembly line was the Daewoo Cielo (briefly imported from China at the end of the last century under the name Racer) which had just been remodeled in South Korea, and was called the Nexia locally. Nexia, essentially derived from Opel's compact sedan Kadett in the 80s, quickly replaced the antiques of the former Soviet era in the Ukrainian market after the technology was taken over by the Koreans. While becoming a black technology, it has also exported to Russia and other neighboring countries, earning a sufficient amount of foreign exchange.
Since then, uzauto has grown rapidly, not only dominating in Ukraine, but also exporting half of its production capacity abroad, and also being popular in the former Soviet Union. Since then, the Ukrainian state-owned enterprise has successively entered into joint ventures with Isuzu and Germany's MAN to further realize the self-sufficiency of commercial vehicles.
After the bankruptcy of South Korea's Daewoo in 2001, General Motors of the United States, which took over, became the new joint venture partner. In 2008, Uzdaewoo changed its name to GM Uzbekistan, and the Daewoo brand was gradually replaced by Chevrolet. Since then, the Uzbeks have been driving the more advanced Jingcheng and Malibu produced by GM Uzbekistan.
In 2018, due to the strategic adjustment of the international market, GM gave up its stake in GM Uzbekistan, and the factory was wholly acquired by Uzauto, becoming a complete Uzbek state-owned enterprise. However, Uzauto has not given up on its technical cooperation with GM, and although the mass production of new models has been slow, new models have been launched. However, according to sources, much of this will depend on the assistance of SAIC-GM, a local Chinese joint venture.
However, it is clear that the model assistance of Sino-US joint venture car companies alone cannot fully meet the current market demand in Uzbekistan. More importantly, if uzauto does not extend a hand of cooperation to the outside world, the single monopoly market and the shrinking volume are destined to fail to solve the outstanding real economic growth problems of Ukraine.
Relative to the global market, the current contradiction between Ukraine's relatively cheap labor resources and how to upgrade its industry has forced Ukraine to make a bolder choice on the road to industrial opening.
The "Belt and Road" that far surpasses the "Chevrolet model".
Thanks to the construction of the "Silk Road Economic Belt", Uzbekistan is trying to transform from a "land-locked country" to a "land-linked country".
In April 2023, the Kashgar-Tashkent Central Asia train from Xinjiang, China, to Tashkent, Uzbekistan made its debut. The opening of the train has opened up a new international logistics channel to Uzbekistan, providing more options for goods from Xinjiang and even the whole of China to "go global". In addition, the much-talked-about China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway construction project is also nearing the end of the argument.
This "Angren-PAP" railway, which is listed as the "No. 1 Project" in Ukraine, connects the Fergana Basin with the capital Tashkent. Previously, there was no direct railway to the country's capital in the Ferghana Basin, but only a detour to Tajikistan. Once the railway is completed, Uzbekistan will not only save $25 million in transit fees every year, but also avoid being "stuck" by others"。
As the choke point of the whole line, the Kamchik Tunnel is the first railway tunnel ever built in Ukraine and costs 4$5.5 billion, 3$500 million, with a weighted average interest rate of 367%。
Note that the Export-Import Bank of China lends money to Uzbekistan at an interest rate of at least 367%, compared to the average yield on US Treasuries over the past 10 years, which is 285%。Therefore, in terms of rate of return, it is obviously more cost-effective for China to lend to Uzbekistan than to lend to Americans.
The biggest advantage of this borrowing model is that the renminbi does not flow out of China, but actually circulates in China through foreign investment, and eventually returns to the central bank's foreign exchange reserves. After Uzbekistan got the loan on paper, it asked the "China Railway Tunnel" to be responsible for the construction. When paying for the project, the US dollars deposited in the Bank of China were directly paid to the "China Railway Tunnel", and the latter exchanged the US dollars for ** RMB to purchase machinery and equipment, engineering materials, and pay the wages of Chinese employees in China.
In this way, it will not ultimately affect China's inflation, but such targeted loans will help China "transfer excess capacity" in a more explicit way.
Before that, from ** to the enterprise also thought of other ways. For example, Artel, a state-owned enterprise group in Ukraine, as an important local home appliance brand, ranks first in the country's domestic brand in terms of market share. At present, Artel has established cooperative relations with internationally renowned home appliance manufacturers such as Midea and Gree in China, imported core components, produced some accessories in Uzbekistan and completed product assembly.
Uzbekistan's locally-produced "Midea" and "Gree" not only meet the important needs of the country, but also because of the special geographical location and location advantages of Uzbekistan, it punches the Russian market and kicks the Ukrainian market.
After home appliances, the industry with stronger commodity value attributes and employability, and industrial synergy ability is undoubtedly the automobile manufacturing industry. In the process of driving the leap of the local manufacturing system, with Uzbekistan as the industrial springboard, Chinese products will be able to radiate to the hinterland of Central Asia and the Russian market more quickly and accurately with the help of local investment and transportation lines.
Why yesJizzak
Many uninformed people may ask, for foreign companies with investment intentions such as BYD, why is it not the capital Tashkent, the capital of Ukraine, or the former capital of Samarkand?
Geographically, Jizzakh Oblast is located about 190 kilometers southwest of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, about 115 kilometers southwest of Samarkand, north of Kazakhstan, southeast of Tajikistan, from the strategic location, the region is not far from the two central city markets of Uzbekistan.
For a long time, agriculture has been the pillar industry of the state, mainly planting cotton, cereals, fruits and vegetable products, and the agricultural output value accounts for about 40% of the regional GDP. Today, Jizzakh has become a veritable automotive state of Ukraine.
In addition to BYD, Volkswagen will also produce electric and hybrid vehicles at its car plant in Jizzakh Oblast this year, according to a plan specified by the Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine. Prior to this, Adm Jizzakh, a multi-brand automaker in Ukraine, was also actively promoting the production of 15 different models with the Kia (South Korea) and Chery Xingtu (China) brands.
At the 11th Congress of the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan held in May last year, Mirziyoyev pointed out that in the near future, there will be real competition in the Ukrainian automotive industry. In particular, cars produced by four foreign manufacturers will be launched in the country. As a result, the country's total automobile production will increase from the current 350,000 units per year to 1 million units.
It should also be noted that in March 2013, Karimov, then the head of Uzbekistan, signed a decree approving the establishment of the Jizzakh Free Economic Zone, and then clarified that the free economic zone was built with the participation of Chinese enterprises.
Its preferential policies are similar to the first Navoi Free Economic Zone approved by Uzbekistan in December 2008: for example, entities registered in the zone invest 300,000-3 million US dollars in Uzbekistan, and are exempt from paying land tax, income tax, corporate property tax, social infrastructure renovation and development tax, unified tax (for small businesses), extra-budgetary deductions for schools, vocational colleges, academies of sciences and medical institutions for maintenance of Uzbek Ministry of Finance, etc.; Investment of 3 million to 5 million US dollars, preferential period of 5 years; Investment of 5 million to 10 million US dollars, preferential period of 7 years; Investment of more than 10 million US dollars, preferential period of 10 years, after the expiration of 10 years still enjoy the preferential income tax and unified tax collection halved; Exemption from customs duties (except for customs fees) on the import of raw materials, materials and components from abroad for locally produced goods; Foreign exchange can be circulated in the zone, i.e. settlement and payment in foreign currency are allowed.
The above-mentioned industrial factors, including the continuity of policies, are of course attractive to more car companies that are intensively cultivating the Central Asian market and even the Russian market. It is also worth mentioning that although it is poor in oil, as a country with abundant solar energy resources and wind resources, the country obviously has its own development intentions for wind power and photovoltaics.
Bribayev Erelbek, chief expert of the Department of Energy and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, has said that Uzbekistan attaches great importance to the development of renewable energy technologies, and plans to increase solar power generation by 3GW by 2026 and wind power generation to 15GW, but without international cooperation, these goals will be difficult to achieve, and we hope to work closely with relevant departments in China and Central Asian countries.
Obviously, in the field of energy storage, all-round car companies like BYD can find more practical industrial options in addition to making and selling cars locally. Once the energy storage operation and maintenance mode of electric piles and power stations can go out of a new way, this will be another new growth point after the temporary development of BYD cloud rail overseas is blocked. With the continuous export of new energy vehicle products, whether it is BYD or more Chinese companies, it is obvious that they can transfer the majestic industry to more emerging markets, and even the Middle East with more capital strength and actual development needs.
According to the Statistical Service of Uzbekistan, China has remained Uzbekistan's main partner over the past 12 months. In the last 12 months, the total between the two countries was 137200 million US dollars, or 21 percent of the total9%。More than a quarter of the value of imports (112$600 million) from China, an increase of 751%；The value of exports to China was 24$600 million, down 65%。
Russia with 98$800 million (15..)8%). Last year, Ukraine's exports to Russia amounted to $3.3 billion, and its top five ** partners also included Kazakhstan (43.).$900 million), Turkey (30$900 million) and South Korea (23$400 million).
At present, the models provided by BYD's official dealers in Uzbekistan have been installed with Uzbek interfaces, and the slogan "We are honored to be the official e-mobility partner of UEFA Euro 2024" has aroused the interest of more fans of Lokomotiv Tashkent, Tashkent cotton farmers, Obod Tashkent and Ben Yudko (formerly Tashkent Founders) at BYD dealerships in Uzbekistan, which far exceed the area of BYD stores in China.
We can proudly say that BYD new energy vehicles have become the world's first car with an Uzbek interface. This is an expression of the brand's respect for the state and people of Uzbekistan. Zyoviddin Parpiyev, director of its official dealer network, said.