Leading Qianli Technology, the former number one of Honor is now making cars.

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Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

More than a year after leaving Honor, Zhao Ming finally has a new identity. Not joining ByteDance as rumored, nor going to Zhijie, but rather getting ready to retrace the path taken by his old comrade Yu Chengdong.

On February 12, Wallstreetcn learned that former Honor CEO Zhao Ming will be joining Qianli Technology. He has also been nominated as a non-independent director candidate for the company's sixth Board of Directors. According to insiders, Zhao Ming may take up the role of co-chairman of Qianli Technology.

The decision was quickly finalized, and after the market closed that day, Qianli Technology issued an announcement officially nominating Zhao Ming as a non-independent director candidate for the sixth Board, with a term consistent with the duration of the current board.

Still, people are curious: why did Qianli Technology’s chairman Yin Qi extend an olive branch to Zhao Ming? And why is Zhao Ming willing to cross into the automotive circle?

Behind this lies Geely’s big move—to make Qianli Technology the “second Huawei.”

Huawei’s “Three Heroes” Gather

Zhao Ming’s choice to join Qianli Technology wasn’t impulsive. Insiders told Wallstreetcn that Zhao Ming and Yin Qi had been in frequent contact since the second half of last year.

In September last year, Zhao Ming publicly said that he was looking for a direction that truly excited him, a venture worthy of another ten years. The public interpreted this as his declaration of a new start.

With Zhao Ming coming onboard, plus Chen Qi (founder and former director of Huawei’s autonomous driving team), and Wang Jun (former President of Huawei Car BU), Qianli Technology has brought together Huawei’s “three heroes.”

Qianli has also gathered the main cards to shake up the game. Behind this personnel move lies the company’s most central strategic pivot: shifting from “car+AI” to “AI+car.”

This reversal in word order signals a fundamental transfer of dominance. Previously, car companies were the protagonists and AI was just a supplementary asset; in the new blueprint by Zhao Ming and Yin Qi, AI becomes the core defining products, with cars merely as the physical carriers for AI capability. To prove this concept, Qianli Technology made a bold decision—to personally build cars and launch a new brand.

Insiders told Wallstreetcn that Qianli Technology is brewing a two-stage car-making plan: one hand preparing a new passenger car brand to enter the consumer market; the other hand readying a “muscle flexing” Robotaxi project.

Close to Qianli Technology people revealed, the Robotaxi project will be equipped with its own advanced autonomous driving solution, “similar to Didi and GAC’s Robotaxi or Baidu’s Apollo Go.”

“Internally, the plan is to equip this Robotaxi with all of its autonomous driving and AI model capabilities,” the source told Wallstreetcn. This is a project meant to “flex muscles” externally, proving that Geely’s entire system can connect intelligence, AI, manufacturing, and supply chain capabilities to form a commercial closed loop rivaling Tesla.

Evidently, Qianli Technology is selling its own smart driving technology as a model to the industry. But that’s not all; they also plan to personally create a complete vehicle brand.

Sources revealed that the new brand will be positioned similarly to Lynk & Co, targeting the 200,000 Yuan range. This price range is the most competitive, but also has the largest growth potential—the “waist market.” Schedule wise, small batch production (SOP) is expected in 2026 and a formal launch in 2027.

Qianli Technology’s “open strategy” is becoming clear—its vision is to “build another Huawei.”

In March last year, Geely Holding CEO Gui Shengyue publicly stated at a performance meeting that Geely wants to work with Qianli Technology to create a “second Huawei.” Only by doing this can Geely hope to lead in future smart and autonomous driving sectors.

Therefore, a path similar to Huawei’s “Smart Selection Car + Car BU” has emerged, with Zhao Ming as the soon-to-debut protagonist in this new script.

Profit Is the Hard Truth

Seven years ago, Huawei stepped into automobiles to make money and “subsidize” its declining smartphone business. Now, Qianli Technology brings in Zhao Ming and advances into the complete vehicle market, also driven by its urgent need for self-sustaining profit.

Zhao Ming has made this clear on Weibo. On February 12, he and Yin Qi interacted, saying they will “jointly build the AI business closed loop.”

In the first three quarters of last year, Qianli Technology reported revenue of 2.762 billion Yuan, but net profit attributable to shareholders was less than 1%. While both grew, the company admitted its revenue increase mainly came from end businesses like motorcycles and passenger vehicles, while profit growth mainly depended on government subsidies.

In the most crucial AI business, Qianli Technology is still in the investment stage, and is quite far from turning a profit.

But the market can’t wait. The industry generally sees 2026 as the decisive year for the shape of smart driving. Yin Qi also estimates that only 3-4 smart driving companies will survive in the Chinese market going forward. Capital increasingly values profit, and the final showdown in the industry has begun.

In fact, Qianli Technology isn’t in a weak position. As the chief leading both a smart driving company and a “large model” AI company, Yin Qi’s technical accumulation is unquestioned. Six months ago, the company consolidated Zeekr’s smart driving team, Geely Research Institute, and Megvii’s autonomous driving brand “Maichi Zhixing”; on the other hand, it holds Lifan’s car-making license, with the entire Geely Auto empire as its resource backbone.

Yet, bridging that last mile of turning “technology” into “hit products,” Qianli Technology has always lacked a top-tier operator. Now, Zhao Ming arrives with a solution.

In the smartphone era, Zhao Ming proposed the strategy “High-end leads, mid-range scales.” Reviewing Honor’s campaigns in the European market: while competitors raced for market share with cheap phones, Zhao Ming insisted on building high-end reputation with the Magic series, then quickly scaling up with the X series, achieving 0 to 5% share in just one year.

This strategy is now set to be replicated in Qianli Technology’s smart driving blueprint.

According to planning, Qianli’s L4 Robotaxi is like the “Magic series” of that time: high-end, muscle-flexing, establishing a technologically leading brand image. But that’s just step one—Zhao Ming’s core mission is to use the scale of the new vehicle brand to dilute the high cost of lidar, powerful chips, and other hardware.

This closed-loop commercial ability is what pure tech-native Yin Qi lacks, but is Zhao Ming’s strength.

This is a two-way journey. Zhao Ming’s understanding of AI is no longer limited to algorithms; he sees it as a “career for the next decade.” Qianli Technology needs Zhao Ming’s experience, to prove AI ideas can complete the full loop from technology and supply chain to finished vehicles, making AI land, commercialize, and reach thousands of households.

The Future Will Be Full of Obstacles

With a clear path to profitability, Zhao Ming’s next huge challenge is organizational integration.

As a Geely-acquired “integration king” project, Qianli’s internal structure is extremely complex. It isn’t a native start-up, but a “hybrid” of Geely Central Research Institute, Zeekr smart driving team, and Megvii Tech AI team.

An insider told Wallstreetcn that Geely teams excel at mechanical engineering and complete vehicle manufacturing, Megvii teams at vision algorithms and deep learning, and add to that BAIC Capital’s new background. How to combine these highly diverse teams and cultures into a force requires great political wisdom and crisis management skills.

During Honor's “independence,” Zhao Ming successfully led a team out of Huawei, rebuilt its supply chain and channels. This kind of large-scale organizational transformation experience is now Qianli Technology’s greatest need.

In this dual-core architecture, division of labor is clear: Yin Qi focuses on technical strategy and AI capabilities ceilings; Zhao Ming focuses on closed-loop business models, solving issues from user experience and global operations to the essential task of selling technology.

This “tech genius + business commander” pairing is highly reminiscent of Huawei’s early rotating chair system or the relationship between Steve Jobs and Tim Cook at Apple.

Finally, there is capital market consideration.

Given the current capital environment, merely positioning as a “car parts supplier” or “smart driving software company” puts a hard cap on valuation. Automotive supply chain companies usually have low P/E ratios, while consumer electronics brands and tech companies with ecosystem closed loops often enjoy much higher valuation premiums.

Bringing Zhao Ming onboard essentially injects “consumer electronics-grade” brand genes into Qianli Technology. Through the dual drive of “car-building + AI,” Qianli is no longer telling a hard-luck OEM tale to the market, but a “tech ecosystem” story like Tesla or Huawei.

They’re showing the market top AI algorithms, completed car products, global operational capability, and a replicable commercial closed loop. If this story sticks, Qianli Technology’s valuation logic will leap in quality.

Zhao Ming joining Qianli Technology means the “mobile phone bigwig” is officially betting big on the “AI+car” track, also indicating the race for talent and resources in the auto industry has reached its highest dimension.

Qianli does not want to be the next Bosch or Continental. What it wants is to be “the Huawei of the auto world,” with core tech like HarmonyOS and ADS, and end products like Wenjie and Zhijie. Of course, the challenge is immense.

Launching a new car in 2027 means Zhao Ming must, in just over a year, complete team integration, rebrand, supply chain restructure, and production ramp-up on the new car. In China’s white-hot auto market, time is the greatest enemy.

But as Zhao Ming said, AI is “the career of the next decade.” For Qianli Technology, Zhao Ming's arrival might just be the final piece of the puzzle for its daring leap. If the “high-end technology + mid-range scale + commercial closed loop” Honor experience can be replicated in the auto sector, then Qianli Technology might truly become the much-anticipated game-changer.

Risk Reminder and DisclaimerMarket risks exist; invest cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it consider specific users’ investment goals, financial status, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article suit their individual circumstances. Investing according to this, responsibility is your own. ```