China’s tire industry is undergoing a profound change.
The 2025 financial report data shows that Zhongce Rubber leads the way with revenue of 44.956 billion yuan, followed by Sailun Group and Linglong Tire with 36.792 billion yuan and 24.642 billion yuan respectively. Pulin Chengshan, Shuangqian Group, Guizhou Tire, Triangle Tire and other collectives have crossed the 10 billion threshold.
The total revenue of the above-mentioned leading companies alone is close to 180 billion yuan, and the industry concentration continues to move closer to the top.
Twenty years ago, revenue of tens of billions was still an unattainable ceiling for Chinese tire enterprises.
From “low-end lock-in” to “tens of billions of leading”, China’s tire industry has taken a whole generation to take this leap.
The starting point of China’s tire industry was far less glamorous than it is today.
In 1958, the “Hangzhou Haichao Rubber Factory” on the site of Haichao Temple in Hangzhou initially produced rubber shoes and trolley tires.
In the same year, Guizhou Rubber Factory trial-produced the first automobile tire.
In 1976, the Weihai Tire Factory, the predecessor of Triangle Tire, broke ground, and 67 employees achieved “construction in the same year and production in the same year”.
These humble beginnings will later grow into the backbone of China’s tire industry.
The real turning point occurred in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1988, Pulin Chengshan’s predecessor built China’s first domestically produced radial tire production line with an annual output of 300,000 units; in 1989, Zhongce Rubber built a radial tire production line; in 1995, Triangle Tire’s first all-steel radial tire rolled off the production line.
The breakthrough in radial tire technology has allowed Chinese tire companies to stand on the same technical starting line as foreign brands for the first time.
In the 21st century, private power has emerged.
In 2002, Sailun Group was established in Qingdao, relying on the equipment capabilities of Qingdao University of Science and Technology and Soft Control Corp. to pave the way for its future breakthroughs in “liquid gold” technology.
From rubber shoes to bias tires, from bias tires to radial tires, from low-end to high-end – China’s tire industry has completed a triple jump in technological capabilities in more than sixty years.
Technological breakthroughs allow companies to “stand up”, and global layout allows everyone to “go out”.
In 2012, Sailun Group built its first overseas factory in Vietnam, becoming the first person to build an overseas factory.
When the United States launched “double counterattacks” against China in 2015 and “double counterattacks” against Southeast Asia in 2021, Sailun had accumulated mature experience in Vietnam and quickly copied it to Cambodia, Mexico, and Indonesia.
Linglong Tire built a factory in Thailand in 2012, and the Serbian factory started construction in 2020 – Chinese tires entered Europe for the first time. The Brazilian factory was completed in 2025, completing the “Southeast Asia-Europe-South America” global layout.
Doublestar Group took a unique path – in 2018, it took control of South Korea’s Kumho Tire. Kumho has 9 production bases and 5 R&D centers around the world, and is the main supplier of first-class brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen. This merger and acquisition allowed Doublestar to quickly gain entry into the international high-end market.
Today, overseas production capacity has become an important growth pole for leading companies.
In 2024, Linglong Tire’s overseas sales revenue will reach 10.73 billion yuan, accounting for nearly half of the total revenue.
Zhongce Rubber has established overseas bases in Thailand, Indonesia, and Mexico, and in 2026 announced an investment of 1.041 billion yuan to set up a production base in Vietnam.
From “exporting products overseas” to “exporting production capacity overseas”, Chinese tire companies are restructuring the global supply chain.
For a long time, “Made in China” in the tire industry has been equivalent to low-end and cheap, and high-end supporting equipment has been monopolized by foreign capital for a long time.
Change is happening.
The “Chaoyang No. 1” high-end tire launched by Zhongce Rubber focuses on the new energy vehicle market. With its excellent quietness, grip and low rolling resistance performance, it breaks the monopoly of foreign capital in the high-end supporting field and marks the shift of Chinese tire companies from “scale-driven” to “technology-driven”.
In the supporting market, Zhongce’s “Chaoyang” brand was supplied to Toyota, the world’s largest car company, for the first time; Linglong Tire entered the supplier list of Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, etc. Eight of the world’s top ten car companies chose Linglong, and its new energy supporting sales continued to rank first in the world.
Guizhou Tire has set a benchmark in the field of intelligent manufacturing.
In 2025, Guizhou Tire was selected as the “Lighthouse Factory” of the World Economic Forum, becoming the first company in the Chinese tire industry to win this honor.
Through 5G, artificial intelligence and other technologies, its production efficiency has increased by 68% and quality defects have been reduced by 57%. The “Lighthouse Factory” has proven to the world that Chinese tires can not only be made well, but also made smartly.
Zhongce 44.956 billion, Sailun 36.792 billion, Linglong 24.642 billion, Pulin Chengshan 11.807 billion, Shuangqian 11.351 billion, Guizhou Tire 10.946 billion, Triangle 9.821 billion – this report card is far-reaching.
Tens of billions of revenue is a watershed, which means that the company has the advantage of scale, continuous research and development capabilities and global configuration level.
Ten years ago, there were only a handful of companies that reached this threshold; today, the combined revenue of the above-mentioned companies alone is nearly 180 billion yuan.
The industry is moving from “small and scattered” to “big and strong”.
Of course, the gap is still obvious.
Bridgestone and Michelin’s annual revenue exceeds 200 billion yuan, and Chinese companies still have room to catch up in terms of scale, brand premium, and proportion of high-end supporting facilities.
However, with the release of overseas production capacity and the expansion of new tracks, the tens of billions of companies are expected to further expand.
Looking to the future, competition will revolve around three main lines.
First, the globalization capabilities should be upgraded again.
Overseas factory construction has changed from a “multiple choice” question to a “must-answer question”.
Whoever has a more reasonable layout, a more resilient supply chain, and stronger localization capabilities will get a larger share.
Sailun’s “multi-point blooming”, Linglong’s “global triangular layout”, and Zhongce’s multi-base collaboration are all exploring different paths.
Second, high-end products continue to break through.
Whether it is liquid gold technology or new energy-specific tires, the technological content and brand premium will determine how far a company can go.
Leveraging its leading position in the new energy vehicle industry, China Tire has the opportunity to “change lanes and overtake” in the EV field.
Third, intelligent manufacturing is fully penetrated.
The demonstration effect of Guizhou Tire’s “Lighthouse Factory” will promote the digital transformation of more companies.
From “manufacturing” to “intelligent manufacturing”, it is not only an improvement in efficiency, but also a comprehensive evolution of quality, cost, and customization capabilities.
From the humble factory building of Hangzhou Haichao Rubber Factory in 1958 to today’s listed company with a market value of nearly 50 billion; from the difficult trial production of the first automobile tire to more and more Chinese names in the world’s top ten lists – this is a history of struggle to catch up, break through and surpass.
Tens of billions of revenue is no longer a dream, but a new starting point.
Chinese tire companies are changing from “followers” to “co-runners” and are beginning to play the role of “leaders” in segmented fields.
But after tens of billions, there will be hundreds of billions.
Compared with giants such as Michelin and Bridgestone, brand premium, core technology, and global network still require long-term forging.
The direction is clear and the road is open.
A new era for China’s tire industry has just begun.
