Catena-X Showcases Breakthrough: China Pilot with 25 Companies Unveiled at IAA
A new chapter in global automotive collaboration
At IAA MOBILITY 2025, Catena-X demonstrated a new chapter with the very first China–Europe pilot for trusted data spaces in the automotive industry. The tri-lateral collaboration of CAAM, VDA and Catena-X rapidly attracted nearly 100 companies, including the participation of 25 Chinese companies to engage in the construction of the joint data space and the exploration of application scenarios.
The pilot provides an opportunity to jointly explore a technical framework for dataspace interconnection models aligned with China–Europe regulatory requirements and China’s Trusted Data Space initiative, grounded in common industrial demands.
As an industry-led initiative, it demonstrates how technical and value-driven collaboration can foster resilient and future-oriented partnerships, while marking a meaningful step in technical cooperation between the European and Chinese automotive sectors, building new bridges for mutual benefit.
On stage at IAA Mobility in Munich, Oliver Ganser (Catena-X) and Frank Göller (Volkswagen Group) emphasized the importance of this step for building resilient, transparent, and sustainable supply chains worldwide. The stage presentation was met with great resonance from partners in China and abroad, underlining the momentum Catena-X has gained as the global blueprint for trusted industrial data ecosystems.
To further support partners in China, Catena-X is now represented locally by Kelly Xu, who will serve as the direct contact point for onboarding and collaboration.
This pilot is another proof point that Catena-X is scaling globally, fast – connecting industries across regions and setting the blueprint for future data ecosystems.
About Catena-X
Catena-X is the first end-to-end, multi-tier collaborative and open data ecosystem for the automotive industry, connecting all players along the value chain. The Catena-X association acts as a neutral governance to enable standardized, interoperable, and data-sovereign collaboration, as well as to drive innovation, increase efficiency and compliance across the entire data ecosystem. Catena-X is compliant with international data space standards and serves as a model for all Manufacturing-X initiatives by shaping the development of standardized data ecosystems in other industries. Founded in 2021, the association has hubs in the USA, China, Spain, Sweden and France, with more than 300 individuals from various players in the automotive industry, working in more than 40 expert groups to develop future standards. For more information about Catena-X, please visit https://catena-x.net/.