Li Shufu Bets Big on Long-Distance Intelligent Driving
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Author | Zhou Zhiyu
Editor | Zhang Xiaoling
While automotive giants are still tossing and turning over whether to “hand over their souls,” Li Shufu has once again placed a dazzling series of pieces on his chessboard.
In the fall of 2025, first, German luxury car giant Mercedes-Benz announced an investment of 1.339 billion yuan to acquire a stake in Qianli Technology; days later, Li Shufu personally endorsed 37-year-old AI genius Yin Qi, publicly placing his heavy bet with the phrase, “The future belongs to Yin Qi.”
Li Shufu, the “capital hunter” once famous for “a snake swallowing an elephant,” is now attempting to kick off a high-stakes gamble centered around AI prodigy Yin Qi in the hottest battlefield of intelligence.
The company at the heart of this gamble is “Qianli Technology.” It emerged from bankrupt Lifan, infused with Megvii’s AI spirit, and carries the expectation of “recreating a Huawei Car BU.” This is undoubtedly a typical, sharp move full of Li Shufu’s personal style: using ingenious capital maneuvers to build, within Geely’s territory, an AI empire to rival, or even surpass, “Huawei Car BU.”
Traditional automotive giants and emerging tech titans are pouring everything into this future-defining war. Li Shufu’s bet on Yin Qi is just a microcosm of this industry shakeup. A disruptive transformation of the sector has just begun.
The “Red-Hot” Upstart
At the end of September, Geely Holding Chairman Li Shufu, at a launch event, openly expressed his admiration for the young man beside him. Pointing to 37-year-old Yin Qi, he told the guests, “I was searching nationwide for smart people, and one day I met Yin Qi. We hit it off at first sight, wishing we had met earlier.” He even unusually signaled ample authorization, saying the future belongs to Yin Qi and hoping he could lead Qianli toward an expansive future.
This rare, hands-on endorsement from a leading figure in China’s automotive industry put Qianli Technology in the spotlight.
Just a few days prior, another piece of news had set the stage for this event — on September 25, Qianli Technology announced that Mercedes-Benz (Shanghai) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. had invested strategically as the fifth largest shareholder at a price of 9.87 yuan per share, totaling 1.339 billion yuan. In an instant, Qianli Technology seemed to become the hottest new darling in the industry.
The meteoric rise of Qianli Technology is not without trace.
In June this year, former Huawei Car BU president Wang Jun officially joined Qianli Technology as co-president. His first public appearance post-appointment was to launch the company’s “Qianli Intelligent Drive 1.0” solution for the entire industry, boldly touting Qianli Technology as “an independent intelligent automotive solutions supplier.”
From personnel reform to business renewal, Qianli Technology is trying to tell a whole new story. That script has long been written: Wang Jun and Yin Qi clearly announced a bold product roadmap from L2+ to L3 and then to the launch of an L4-level Robotaxi solution.
Its “Qianli Intelligent Drive 1.0” solution is divided by computing power into Basic (100 TOPS), Professional (200+ TOPS), and Flagship (up to 700 TOPS) versions to meet diverse model requirements. The 2.0 solution targets L3 and is planned for release at year-end; the 3.0 solution focuses on Robotaxi, with plans to deploy more than 1,000 vehicles in 18 cities worldwide in the next 18 months.
Wang Jun also set an ambitious target for this new story: “to capture one-third of the global smart driving market.”
The capital market’s reaction was swift. Spurred by this wave of good news, Qianli Technology’s shares repeatedly hit record highs, with its market value soaring from about 25.4 billion at the start of the year to over 53 billion yuan.
It seems the old days when Lifan was on the brink have passed. Under Li Shufu's endorsement and Yin Qi’s leadership, a new story of AI, open platforms, and globalization is emerging.
A New Capital Deal
Li Shufu has been steering Geely’s transformation, wanting Geely to evolve from a pure car manufacturer into a high-tech solutions provider.
Before joining hands with Yin Qi, among the more than 10 listed companies under Li Shufu’s control, except for ECARX (intelligent automotive solutions) and CaoCao Mobility, the rest were traditional manufacturing companies like Geely Auto. Clearly, this fell short of his tech empire blueprint.
Qianli Technology is a key piece of Li Shufu’s capital puzzle and his main tool for the future.
Before Qianli, Li had other plans for the company. Lifan, founded in 1992, was China’s motorcycle export champion and once the “first private car stock.” However, it declined amid tougher competition and entered bankruptcy restructuring in 2020.
At that time, Li Shufu and Geely capital partnered with the local Chongqing Liangjiang Industrial Group via the Chongqing Manjianghong Fund (controlled 51% by Chongqing Liangjiang Equity Investment Fund, 49% by Geely’s Majestic Investment) to lead this restructuring as the “white knight.”
In the first few years, the revived asset told a different, old story. Geely executives moved in, shifted Lifan Technology’s business focus to battery swapping and the B-end market, launched new brands like Ruilan, mainly serving Geely’s own ride-hailing platform “CaoCao Mobility.”
This story received a lukewarm market response. In 2023, company revenue fell by 21.8% year-on-year, with recurring net losses. This phase was classic “asset revitalization;” at its core, Lifan was a contract manufacturer and a platform for specific Geely businesses.
As the old game stalled, Li had to find a new, more attractive breakthrough for this A-share platform. AI became that new story.
In July 2024, Lifan Technology’s shareholding structure underwent decisive change. Geely Tech transferred its 100% equity in Chongqing Jianghehui Enterprise Mgmt. Co. (which held 19.91% of Lifan) for 2.43 billion yuan to Chongqing Jianghe Shunsui Enterprise Mgmt. Co., controlled by Megvii’s Yin Qi. Afterwards, Geely’s fund still held 15.20% via Manjianghong Fund.
Yin Qi was then appointed chairman, and in February this year, Lifan Technology was renamed Chongqing Qianli Technology Co., Ltd.
According to sources, Li’s “talent search” was targeted. He met this AI prodigy—Yin Qi, who studied under Harry Shum at Microsoft Asia Research Institute—through Shum’s referral.
With the right people and a restructured business, a new story naturally unfolded over the next six months. Legacy, capital-intensive, low-margin businesses were revitalized, and predictable cash flow could now support higher-margin R&D, spreading fixed costs.
Besides asset revitalization, the “new story” was driven by Geely’s deeper anxiety: in the second half of the intelligence race, even Geely feels pressure from Huawei’s “dimensional-reduction” blow.
Geely Auto President Gui Shengyue has repeatedly stated that Geely must work with Qianli to build “a second Huawei”; only then can Geely lead in smartification and autonomous driving.
Telling a technology-centered new story thus became a necessity — reshaping Qianli’s valuation logic for future capital moves (like an HK IPO), and creating a seemingly independent vanguard for Geely in the race for smart vehicles.
Industry Problems Remain
Reality is harsher than any story. This new protagonist still faces multiple challenges.
From a business development perspective, Geely's support is both Qianli’s strength and potential shackle. An executive at a leading intelligent driving solutions supplier told Wallstreet CN that intelligent driving is carmakers’ core competency for the future, and they will always care about a supplier’s background.
This concern is not groundless. In recent years, major automakers have made intelligence a core strategy. Since last spring, BYD has been integrating its intelligence department; Chery consolidated units like Dazhuo Intelligence to form “Chery Intelligent Center.”
Moreover, global carmakers are forging deep capital alliances with mainstream intelligent driving vendors through strategic investments. International giants like GM, Toyota investing in Momenta, or domestic automakers collectively investing in Horizon Robotics, all herald a shift from traditional supply chains to capital-driven R&D alliances.
As for current star Huawei, so far, SERES and Avatr have formally bought into Yiwang (Huawei's automotive spin-off); others have hesitated due to valuation, funding, or strategic issues. Some, like GAC, have cooperated via wholly-owned arm Huawang Automotive to show control.
Clearly, automakers each have their own schemes for smartification paths.
Mercedes-Benz, which recently bought into Qianli, is already tied with Geely: Geely Holding owns 9.69% of Daimler. Their future cooperation remains to be seen. On the very day it bought in, Mercedes announced the L2 urban and highway pilot assist system jointly developed with Momenta would soon launch.
Financially, the smart-driving sector remains in the high-investment R&D phase. In H1 2025, Qianli Technology's R&D spending was about 288 million yuan, up 59.67%. Revenue jumped from 2.988 billion yuan in H1 2024 to 4.184 billion, up 40.04%, mainly from auto and motorcycle volume increases.
However, net profit attributable to shareholders, excluding non-recurring gains/losses, fell from 16.61 million yuan in H1 2024 to -134 million in H1 2025, mainly due to heavy R&D outlay on smart cockpit OS. Asset impairment losses and deferred tax expenses also played a role.
By contrast, Huawei's Car BU had invested more than 40 billion yuan in R&D by end-2024, hit profitability for the first time in H1 this year, and revenue soared to 27 billion yuan. Qianli still lags in both R&D investment and revenue.
Moreover, the smart-driving market is long past its “blue ocean” stage, and competition is now white-hot. Data from Gasgoo shows that from 2023 to October 2024, in city NOA solutions supplied by third-parties, Huawei and Momenta command nearly 90% market share. As a latecomer, Qianli’s breakthrough depends on winning more external orders.
The Endgame of the High-Stakes Gamble
From the rise of “software-defined cars” to today’s AI revolution has been but a few years. Foundations built over a century are being uprooted. In this new industry chessboard, traditional carmakers are no longer the only players: tech giants are everywhere, and the rules are being rewritten by code, not steel.
In this game, Li Shufu, through dazzling capital maneuvers, has pushed Qianli Technology to center stage — a brilliant opening move, showcasing the highest level of strategic planning and resource integration by a “capital hunter” in the face of sweeping change.
But as Geely’s own history reveals, every capital masterstroke is only the start of a long journey. The “snake swallows elephant” feat of old took nearly a decade to fully integrate, fulfilling Volvo’s value return.
For Qianli Technology today, its challenges are even more complex than Volvo’s. For it aims to shake up the industry’s most sensitive and core issue: the “soul’s” ownership. What it seeks to build is not just a company, but a new mode of industrial trust.
For Yin Qi, whether he can lead Qianli to build a new industry trust model is the key to Qianli’s breakout.
Yin Qi has admitted that the soul of an AI system is data, which demands a deep integration between supplier and carmaker, beyond typical client-vendor ties. Yet whether this idealistic integration can break deep-rooted industry prejudices is a huge unknown.
Even Huawei’s more open Yiwang has faced hesitation from partners like FAW. For Qianli to get rival automakers to let down their guard will be no easy task.
Moreover, Qianli is now an A-share listed company planning a Hong Kong listing. Investors will scrutinize its real operating data: growth of non-Geely orders, margin improvement in tech business, and (when) net profit excluding extraordinary items will turn positive.
In the past, Li Shufu excelled at driving value with capital, integrating resources and building platforms rapidly through M&A, restructuring, and listings. But in implementing technology, product, and market cycles, he had to obey the slow grind of real industry unlock and the long-term accumulation of value.
If Qianli Technology succeeds, Li’s bet on Yin Qi will not only be a win or loss for his own capital empire but a living case of how industry and capital can synergize, breathing new life into the sector.
The outcome of this high-stakes wager can no longer be measured merely by the fate of a single company. It is a mirror reflecting Geely — and the entire Chinese auto industry’s — ambition and dilemma in its intelligent transformation.
In the endgame of intelligence, what defines an empire is never how vast its capital territory is, but how deep its technical foundation is. The bedrock for a new trillion-dollar empire has always been reliable technology, visible scale, and sustainable performance.
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