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China’s Electric-Vehicle Factories Have Become Tourist Hot Spots


Thousands of people are signing up to see the highly automated assembly lines of Chinese EV brands like Xiaomi and Nio.

It offers a chance to not only see the production line up close, but also experience the human side of the brand," says Freya Zhang, a research analyst at the investment consulting firm Tech Buzz China, who has been organizing tours for foreign investors to visit Chinese electric vehicle startups for two years. The EV factory tour trend is not entirely new: Chinese companies have long opened their manufacturing plants to potential investors, entrepreneurs, and groups of young students, but they haven’t become a universal tourist attraction until now. Zhao Mingfei, a Beijing resident, says he first learned about Xiaomi’s tours by watching livestream broadcasts by the company’s founder, Lei Jun, whose charismatic personality and annual motivational speeches have turned him into a celebrity in China.

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