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CAAM, VDA, and Catena-X Sign Memorandum of Understanding

Beijing / Berlin, April 24, 2025 – The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and the Catena-X Automotive Network have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster closer cooperation in advancing digitalization, sustainability, and resilience across the global automotive value chain.

This trilateral agreement marks a significant step in strengthening Sino-German collaboration by promoting standardized, secure, and interoperable data exchange between Europe, China, and beyond. The three parties will work together on key initiatives to accelerate the development of trusted data ecosystem, enabling companies to optimize business processes, comply with global regulations, and drive innovation in an increasingly connected automotive industry.

As part of the agreement, CAAM, VDA, and Catena-X will:

  • Jointly develop and promote industry standards to ensure interoperability between trusted automotive data spaces, particularly in Europe and China.
  • Collaborate on solutions that help members streamline operations while staying compliant with emerging global regulations and launch pilot projects to demonstrate the value of cross-border data collaboration.
  • Support ecosystem activation activities aimed at addressing business challenges faced by automotive companies in both regions.
  • Facilitate ongoing knowledge exchange through joint seminars, conferences, and webinars.

Fu Bingfeng, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), pointed out in the exchange that the global automobile industry is in a new stage of intelligent network development, and data has become the core element of industrial development and resource circulation, and he hoped that the three parties would realise the global circulation of data resources and the global sharing of data value through the common standard, common research and common ecology, and jointly promote the establishment of a data exchange system compatible with the regulations of China and Europe to lay the foundation of the digitalisation of the global Automobile industry.

“With this MoU, we are building a bridge between two of the world’s largest automotive markets, providing seamless and standardized data exchange,” said Oliver Ganser, Chairman of the Board at Catena-X. “By addressing CAAM’s network of over 3,300 members, we are enabling thousands of companies to participate in a trusted, global data exchange. This collaboration will empower businesses of all sizes to reduce costs, foster innovation, and drive sustainability across the entire automotive value chain.”

Chairman of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Mrs. Hildegard Müller, said that China and Germany, as important pillars of the global automotive industry, have always adhered to the concept of openness and cooperation, and have continued to promote technological progress and industrial upgrading.This cooperation has built an important platform for data exchange between China and Germany in the automotive industry, and we look forward to deepening the cooperation between the two sides in the fields of technology research and development, industry chain synergy, etc. through the standardised data exchange mechanism.

The MoU, effective upon signing, is set for an initial period of three years, with the parties aiming for tangible outcomes by September 2025. Regular consultations, joint initiatives, and mutual support in dissemination and education activities will form the backbone of this cooperation.

This agreement underscores the shared vision of CAAM, VDA, and Catena-X: to create a resilient, innovative, and sustainable automotive industry through open collaboration and standardized data exchange on a global scale.

 

 

About Catena-X

Catena-X is the first end-to-end, 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 and drive innovation, increase efficiency and compliance across the entire data ecosystem. Catena-X is Gaia-X compliant and also serves as a model for all Manufacturing-X initiatives and is 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 and more than 300 individuals from various players in the automotive industry working in more than 40 expert groups to develop future standards.