Xiali China

Name: Xiali China
ISBN: 9787801705518

韦三水Contemporary China Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.2

Word count: 164K words
Chapters: 20
ISBN: 9787801705518

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Summary

This book examines the twenty-year history of China's only national sedan brand against the backdrop of the Chinese auto industry's development. Tianjin Xiali stood on remarkably high ground from the start, thanks to the technical import, localization, and independent-production groundwork of Tianjin Daihatsu. With government policy support, it grew rapidly alongside China's taxi industry, gradually becoming a minicar production base of considerable scale and building a firm brand image in the public mind.

After China's WTO entry, as the sedan market shifted and similar brands challenged it, Tianjin Xiali suffered setbacks but also learned and grew. Its "strong-strong alliance" with First Automobile Works injected new vitality into Xiali's further development; the launch of new brands and opening of new markets all point to a brighter future for this national brand. In this book the author recounts this history in plain prose, recalling the persistence and effort Tianjin Xiali made to preserve a national brand at a time when other automakers were being taken over by global auto groups and falling into the trap of "trading technology for market."

Editor's review

Xiali China is a badly underrated work of reportage. Wei Sanshui uses Xiali, the national car that once filled China's streets and alleys, as a lens to unfold a micro-history of China's auto industry with considerable sociological value. It is far more than nostalgia: through the rise and fall of a single industrial product, it vividly maps the upheavals in China's economic transition, shifts in market thinking, and changes in ordinary people's ways of life from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Wei Sanshui, a veteran financial journalist, writes with calm restraint and solid sourcing, deftly weaving corporate strategic choices, the market's ruthless selection, and a generation's collective memory. Reading it, you understand why one car's fate could resonate so closely with the pulse of an era—it touches on the excitement of opening up and import, the hardships of localization, the cruelty of market competition, and the rise and fading of a "national car" dream. For anyone who wants to look beyond surface nostalgia and truly understand that history from an industrial and socioeconomic angle, this book offers a rare and finely textured account.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern Chinese industrial history and social change
Car culture enthusiasts, especially those with memories of the Chinese auto market from the 1990s to the early 2000s
Observers and researchers in economics and business
Readers of reportage who enjoy seeing grand history through a concrete object

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking purely personal nostalgic essays or light reading
Auto enthusiasts expecting deep technical analysis or corporate insider revelations

Reading tips

Can be read alongside literary and artistic works chronicling reform and opening up, such as Like a Flowing River, to appreciate the different appeal of macro narrative and micro case study.
While reading, consider: besides Xiali, what other former "national products" carried similar memories of an era and marks of transition?
The book touches on economic policy and market analysis; taking notes may help clarify the timeline and key turning points.

About the publisher

Contemporary China Publishing House China · Founded in 1991

Contemporary China Publishing House is known for its titles on national history, biography, and the humanities and social sciences. Judging from the 73 books in our database, its publishing focus centres on biography, documentary literature, essays, Eastern philosophy, and cultural and social science works. These range from military biographies such as The Road to Generalship, which profiles Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley, to documentary works like Countdown to Hiroshima and a biography of the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. In essays, it offers a series of collected editions of Ji Xianlin's prose, autobiography, and writings on life, mentors and friends, and reading and scholarship. Representative authors include Jonathan W. Jordan, Stephen Walker, and Ji Xianlin, along with translators such as Xiaoxiao Bingren and Wang Zuning. It should be noted that, apart from the information in our database, publicly available details about its full publishing programme are limited.

版权信息
第一部分历史溯源
第一章从历史长河中寻觅源头
第二部分开天辟地
第二章从一出生就与众不同
第三章由默默无闻到令人刮目相看
第四章天安门前黄大发上海滩上红夏利
第五章竞争力：苦练内功，并吸他人所长
第三部分遭遇挑战
第六章汽车业深陷囹圄燃起价格烽火
第七章先发制人夏利降价引发行业全盘地震
第八章两利战争：既生瑜，何生亮
第四部分浴火重生
第九章天一重组：拉开夏利涅磐再造的序幕
第十章重塑天汽漫漫路
第十一章天一夏利亮剑
第五部分期待更加辉煌
第十二章 “国民车”计划与夏利的产业梦想
第十三章二十年磨一剑
第十四章新起点新主帅新规划

FAQ

Is this book mainly about the technical development history of Xiali cars?

Not entirely. Technological evolution is one thread, but the book's core is using the Xiali brand to analyze the full journey of China's auto industry in a specific historical period—from import and joint ventures to independent development and all-out market competition—focusing on the interplay of industry, economy, and society.

What is the background of author Wei Sanshui? Are his views objective?

Wei Sanshui is a veteran financial journalist who has worked at several major financial media outlets. His writing draws on extensive interviews, documents, and data, leans toward reportage and analysis, and strives to present multiple perspectives and complex causes; overall it is relatively objective and neutral.

How is the book rated on Douban? What is its reputation?

According to checks, the book has a high rating on Douban and has won praise from many thoughtful readers. They generally consider its topic unique and its material detailed, filling a gap in recording an important economic history from the perspective of a micro product, with distinctive historical and social value.

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About the author

韦三水 Author

Wei Sanshui is an author about whom limited public information is available; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not clearly recorded. Judging from the three works held in the collection—Xiali China, Yanjing World, and Big State-Owned Enterprises: Sixty Years of the Republic's "Eldest Sons"—he is a writer concerned with the fate of China's economy and its enterprises. These works focus respectively on the automobile industry, the beer industry, and large state-owned enterprises, showing a sustained interest in industrial history and the growth paths of companies; the titles are commonly classified under finance and management. His writing tends to begin with specific enterprises and industries, tracing their development and observing the interplay among institutions, markets, and brands, with a clear documentary and case-study character. Overall, Wei Sanshui writes for readers interested in Chinese business and economic transformation, seeking to present facets of industrial change through individual cases.