Michelin Group’s first “Factory of the Future” strategy took the lead in coming to fruition in Shanghai.
As the first high-performance green tire, the Michelin Racing 5E, successfully rolled off the production line, the second phase of the Michelin Shanghai factory expansion project was officially put into production.
This project, affectionately called the “Magnolia Project”, has a total investment of 3 billion yuan. It is also the first “Future Factory” strategy of the Michelin Group to be implemented in China.
Data show that throughout 2025, Shanghai’s actual use of foreign capital was approximately US$16 billion, accounting for a stable share of more than 15% of the country.
It is worth mentioning that foreign investment’s future-oriented strategy will actively adapt to the development of the Chinese market.
In the words of Ye Fei, President and CEO of Michelin Greater China and Mongolia, “We are gradually turning Shanghai into an important strategic fulcrum in the Asia-Pacific and even the world.”
“Running a Marathon at the Speed of a Sprint” The second phase of the Michelin Shanghai factory reconstruction and expansion project was laid at the end of 2023, covering an area of approximately 70,000 square meters. With the support of a first-class business environment, the first phase of the project was put into operation nearly a year earlier than expected.
The reporter saw at the scene that the first batch of production lines has been put into operation. This is also the Michelin Group’s first first-level strategic investment project to systematically design, build and operate according to the concept of “future factory”.
“The Magnolia project focuses on 18- to 24-inch high-performance, large-size passenger car tires, of which about 70% of the production capacity will serve new energy models, actively responding to the electrification, intelligence, and high-end upgrade trends in China’s travel field.” Ye Fei said that as the first phase of the project is put into production and the output gradually ramps up, it is expected to add 1 million annual production capacity and more than 100 high-end product specifications, and the overall annual production capacity will increase from 8.5 million to 9.5 million.
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At the production ceremony, a set of data was very eye-catching: a single tire building machine can roll off a tire every 36 seconds; the delivery cycle is shortened to 5 days.
To cope with the challenge of rapid iteration of models in China’s new energy vehicle market, foreign-funded enterprises are actively responding to the challenge of “running a marathon at the speed of a sprint.”
“In the past, the production schedule of tires was one month ahead of schedule. We have introduced a new ultra-flexible production model and the most advanced tire technology in the Magnolia project.
“Zhu Haiyan, general manager of Shanghai Michelin Tire Co., Ltd., introduced that through the super flexible production system, not only one tire can be formed every 36 seconds, but also small batch production of a minimum of 100 pieces can be supported to better meet the needs of China’s original automobile tire market in “small batch,
“Light inventory, quick response, high matching” upgrade needs.
Having the courage to invest more in Shanghai also benefits from the rising performance. “Since the construction of the Shanghai factory in 2001, Michelin China’s sales have been growing rapidly.
“Ye Fei revealed that in the past 2025, the company’s sales and profit growth set a record, including original and replacement tires for passenger cars, aircraft tires, mining tires, motorcycles and bicycle tire businesses, etc. All reached new highs.
Entering 2026, and Michelin will
There are many foreign-funded companies that are “sprinting from the start”.
On January 9, Autoliv, the world’s major automotive safety system supplier, opened the second phase of its factory in Jiading, with a total investment of 350 million yuan. It is committed to building a benchmark base for the company’s global airbag production.
“The expansion is the company’s strategic layout based on development needs.
“Sun Yi, President of Autoliv China, said that the project has introduced Autoliv’s largest intelligent warehouse in the world. In the future, it will be based on this platform to export intelligent manufacturing experience to the world and continue to invest in the research and development and innovation of automotive safety products.
Foreign investment continues to increase its investment in China, and Shanghai has become the first choice for foreign investment to enter the Chinese market.
The quantity and quality of foreign investment in Shanghai have been stable and the quality has improved. Shanghai has taken key areas such as the Pudong Leading Area, the Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Lingang New Area, and the Hongqiao International Open Hub as the first places to further promote reform and opening up, and promote the Oriental Hub.
The New York International Business Cooperation Zone is the first to start the closed operation of the zone.
Throughout 2025, Shanghai has newly recognized 60 regional headquarters and 45 foreign-funded R&D centers for the year, reaching a total of 1,076 and 636.
At the beginning of 2026.
, the number of new regional headquarters of multinational companies continues to increase.
On January 6, Nippon Express, the world’s sixth largest ocean freight forwarding company, established a new East Asia regional headquarters company “Nissan East Asia” in Shanghai.
According to Nippon Express, East Asia is the core area of the global supply chain and industry.
The concentration is obvious, and the new company headquarters will be based in East Asia to accelerate the sustainable growth of business in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world.
Shanghai’s series of measures to optimize the investment environment will inject more confidence into foreign investment starting from January 1 this year.
, “Policy Measures for Further Supporting the Upgrading of Foreign-funded R&D Centers in Shanghai” was implemented, proposing 26 specific measures to “attract and retain investment” and “attract and retain talents” from ten aspects, including guiding foreign-invested manufacturing around the city’s ten key industrial chains and urban collaborative leading industries.
Industrial enterprises build high-level R&D platforms; foreign-funded R&D centers can enjoy customs clearance facilitation measures for imported R&D supplies through the science and technology integrated information management service platform;
among employees of foreign-funded R&D centers, high-end talents and urgently needed talents who meet the city’s relevant regulations can directly apply for introduction and settlement.
In early January, Shanghai issued “Several Measures to Encourage Domestic Reinvestment by Foreign-Invested Enterprises”, which proposed 20 measures from the aspects of investment support and service optimization to encourage foreign-invested enterprises to reinvest domestically in various ways.
