Changzhou

Changzhou bet on the right technology at the right time: electric vehicles. This Jiangsu Province city of nearly a million people has become China's 'New Energy Vehicle Capital,' producing over 680,000 EVs in a recent year—more than many entire countries. The city hosts manufacturing facilities for BYD, Li Auto, and dozens of battery and component suppliers, creating an EV supply chain cluster that rivals Shenzhen and Shanghai in concentration if not in brand recognition.

The transformation was deliberate. Changzhou's government began courting EV manufacturers and battery producers in the early 2010s, offering land, tax incentives, and fast permitting. CATL—the world's largest EV battery manufacturer—established major operations in the region. The clustering effect then took over: battery makers attracted vehicle assemblers, who attracted component suppliers, who attracted logistics firms. By the time the global EV market exploded, Changzhou had the ecosystem in place to capture a disproportionate share of production.

Before EVs, Changzhou was a conventional Yangtze Delta manufacturing city producing textiles, machinery, and electronics. The Grand Canal runs through the city, connecting it to a waterway network that has facilitated commerce since the Sui Dynasty (7th century). But the EV pivot elevated Changzhou from mid-tier industrial city to strategic national asset—a transformation measurable in GDP growth that consistently outpaces provincial and national averages.

Changzhou's success carries a lesson about industrial evolution: cities that position themselves at the intersection of government policy, technology shifts, and supply chain logic can leapfrog larger competitors. The city didn't invent EVs—it created the manufacturing conditions that made building them there irresistible. That is niche construction in its purest form: building the habitat that attracts the species you want.