Translator:Wu Yuan Zhen
From October 23 to 24, the 2025 International Conference on Intelligent Automotive Safety and R&D Testing, co-hosted by Hubei University of Automotive Technology and ZF Automotive Safety Systems (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., was held in Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone. This two-day industry event attracted more than 400 participants, including top experts, scholars, enterprise representatives and industry regulatory professionals from multiple countries around the world, to jointly discuss the future development of intelligent automotive safety and R&D testing.
At the opening ceremony, Wang Xiao, Deputy Secretary of the University Party Committee and President of the University, delivered a welcome speech. He stated that the current automotive industry is undergoing a century-long transformation, with intelligence and connectivity becoming the mainstream, and safety serving as the cornerstone of this change. As a university that has grown, developed and thrived alongside China's national automotive industry and boasts distinctive automotive features, the university has always taken serving national strategies and local industries as its core mission. This conference is a key practice to promote the in-depth integration of "industry-university-research-application", aiming to build an exchange platform rooted in Wuhan, radiating across China and influencing the world, promote the integration of global cutting-edge technologies with China's industrial practices, open up the transformation channel "from laboratory to production line", and contribute to shaping a safer future of mobility.
Harald Lutz, Global Head of R&D at ZF, pointed out in his speech that the global automotive industry is currently in a period of profound transformation, and intelligent safety technology has become a key driving force for development. International cooperation and exchanges are crucial; by sharing resources, technologies and experience, we can accelerate the innovation and development of intelligent automotive safety technologies.
After the opening ceremony, a number of university-enterprise cooperation projects, joint laboratories and strategic cooperation initiatives led by the university were signed and inaugurated on site. These cooperations will connect the full industrial chain ecosystem of "R&D - Components - Testing - Equipment", focus on common technical challenges in the industry, and jointly develop future intelligent safety technologies, marking a solid step forward for the university in collaborative innovation and achievement transformation.
The university announced the official preparation of the national-level Belt and Road Joint Laboratory, elevating its international cooperation to a new height. Positioned as an open international scientific research platform, the laboratory will attract research institutions, universities and enterprises from countries along the Belt and Road to participate, carry out joint research, joint standard formulation and talent exchanges in the field of intelligent automotive safety, marking the transformation of the university's university-enterprise cooperation from "bringing in" to "moving forward with global partners".
The conference also featured keynote speeches, thematic seminars and technical sub-forums. Dozens of authoritative experts and enterprise elites in the field of intelligent automotive safety from China and abroad participated, exchanged views on cutting-edge areas such as intelligent automotive safety technology, intelligent safety testing technology, and by-wire chassis testing, extensively built consensus, and guided the industry's innovation direction and practical paths.（Reviewed by Zhang Yuanhao）
