Aragon’s Automotive and Mobility Cluster (CAAR) has returned from a trade and technology mission to China involving 13 member companies. Over two weeks, the delegation held business meetings and visited industrial sites to identify potential partnerships, investments, and new business opportunities in a market playing an increasingly important role in the transformation of Europe’s automotive industry.
The itinerary included Nanjing, Changzhou, Hefei, Wuhu, and Chongqing, cities linked to vehicle manufacturing, electric mobility, and advanced industry. The Aragonese companies also had their own space at the sixth Nanjing Innovation Fair, where they were able to showcase their capabilities and learn about solutions in automation, industrial robotics, digitalization, and smart manufacturing.
Projects and contacts for the supply chain
According to information provided by CAAR, several of the participating companies returned to Aragon with projects under consideration, new commercial contacts, and potential business partnerships. The organization aims for these ties to help integrate Aragonese suppliers into the supply chains of Asian manufacturers expanding their presence in Europe, without shifting the participating companies’ industrial activity abroad.
The mission comes amid the expansion of Chinese manufacturers and suppliers in the European market. In Aragon, the cluster cites the battery manufacturing project led by Stellantis and CATL as one example of this transformation. Its approach is to leverage new industrial investment so that local companies can win contracts, build technological capabilities, and expand their international reach.
Local content, one of the challenges for suppliers
CAAR sees the rising local content of vehicles produced in Europe as an opportunity for the sector. The organization points to the goal of European components accounting for up to 70% of their value, an issue that requires an understanding of how such origin is calculated and certified throughout the supply chain. The cluster’s managing director, David Romeral, is scheduled to address the issue on November 17 at an event organized by the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to visits to companies and manufacturing facilities, the delegation held institutional meetings with Chinese chambers of commerce and business associations. In Nanjing, it was received by representatives of local authorities at a meeting organized with the collaboration of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza. For Aragon’s automotive sector, the expedition’s immediate outcome is an agenda of contacts and opportunities that must still be translated into projects and business agreements.
Source: Aragon Automotive and Mobility Cluster (CAAR), statement dated November 10, 2026.
