To Win, Hefei Emptied Its Resources Three Times, Yet Accused of Gambling with the People's Future

At the end of 2025, Time magazine launched an annual cover, with a high-altitude beam on the cover and eight people on the beam. Elon Musk and Jensen Huang were notably listed. Time called them "Architects" to architect the coming era.

Some say that the vision for the future has actually been brewing for many years, and the brewing process is the choice of "gambling".

Stanley Ho, the gambling king who spanned half a century, had his final biography titled "Not Gambling is Winning". His life philosophy was to believe in certainty.

Architecting the era and the choice of gambling have never been a contradiction. So, when people once again use "gambling" to describe that city, perhaps a more suitable term would be "architecting". What it relies on is never chance, but finding certainty in uncertainty.

This city is Hefei.

The changes of Changjiang Road document Hefei's architectural cycles after cycles. Amidst the turbulent world, from an OEM small city to an industrial highland, accepting USTC, betting on BOE, CXMT, and NIO, Hefei gambled for three trillion-yuan clusters over decades. With long-termism in technology after technology, it realized future certainty.

Or, as the gambling king said, this is Hefei's "Not Gambling is Winning".

One Changjiang Road, Half of Hefei History

Hefei has a plaque.

Written with eight big characters, "Hefei is not bad, located in the middle of Anhui". These were the characters given by Chairman Mao back then. The long struggle over the provincial capital site came to an end, and Hefei settled the outcome from then on.

At that time, this city standing in the center had its positioning set, but how to develop the city of only 50,000 people with this new identity still caused headaches.

Back then, known as the "No. 1 Road of Anhui", Changjiang Road in Hefei was dusty on sunny days and muddy on rainy days. When a car drove by, pedestrians had to stick close to the wall. Hefei's situation was all written on Changjiang Road.

When old-time Hefei residents mentioned Changjiang Road in the 1950s and 60s, there was only one impression: narrow roads, potholes, sometimes muddy when it rained. Old people would use bamboo baskets to find some stones to fill the gaps. "The old Central Changjiang Road had two lanes, very narrow, no sidewalks, everyone walked on the sides."

It was such a road that became a perfect "narrator" of Hefei's development changes. You could say, one Changjiang Road, half of Hefei history. Starting from Changjiang Road Bridge in the east to West Ring Road in the west, the road is about 2,990 meters long, hiding Hefei's unforgettable ups and downs.

In 1955, the Front Street was officially named Changjiang Road, borrowing the name of a great river, and also entrusting a city's ambition to "flow to the sea". The development story belonging to Hefei officially set sail.

Although at that time, storefronts along Changjiang Road were also strange, with very long eaves, recessed deep inside, making it hard to see clearly when entering to eat or buy fried dough sticks. But from the moment Chairman Mao met 100,000 citizens in Changjiang Road in a convertible, how to architect the future, Hefei already knew in its heart.

After consolidating its status as the provincial capital, on this "stretched" main axis, Hefei quietly unpacked the letter written for the future. Inside the letter were water, bridges, crowds, and fireworks. Also, technology and Hefei's future.

In 1969, Hefei planted the first seed. Some say this was Hefei's first high-stakes gamble.

At that time, USTC was forcibly relocated from Beijing and needed to find a new place to settle, like a hot potato. Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi... many provinces had talked, but in the end all politely refused.

However, Anhui, Hefei, stood up. To accommodate USTC, besides the resounding promise, "Even if we starve or have nothing to drink, we must protect China's scientific seedlings!", it also put out all its savings, special power supply, and made room by letting go of land.

When time fell on 2020, Hefei bet correctly on NIO. After gaining the title of China's "Top VC City", everyone looked back, only to find that this city, this gamble, was betting on Hefei's future.

Accepting USTC can be considered an active and bold choice by Hefei. Because at that time, Hefei did not yet possess the industrial momentum of today, let alone predict that chips, quantum, and AI would become the main track of urban competition decades later.

At that time, USTC was, in many people's eyes, an impression of "being a bit far from industry". Because at that time, the Chinese automotive industry was just setting sail, and Chinese people had not yet learned to make cars.

In 1970, JAC HF140 car received production permission and began mass production. The first batch of 1,000 vehicles was allocated to production frontlines across Anhui. Making cars like Volkswagen and Toyota, in the traditional fuel vehicle era, was the dream of the Chinese automotive industry.

Anhui was no exception. A group of technicians who were building the Chaohu Sluice at the time were assigned a difficult task: build a factory on-site to make cars, filling the gap in Anhui's automotive industry.

Hefei JAC Motor Manufacturing Factory was born. The beginning of everything was difficult. Parts were all hammered by hand, there were no technical drawings, and engineers carried dry food to travel to other car companies to "steal skills". An old worker recalled, "At that time, everyone was holding back a force of determination, just wanting Anhui people to sit in cars made by ourselves. No matter how bitter or tired, it was worth it."

Gambling and striving became the mark of Hefei at that time. On the left hand, gambled that a scientific seed could take root and sprout; on the right hand, hoped to use an undefeated fighting spirit to win a future for Anhui's automotive industry.

The years of striving are always long, like snake grass in grey lines, running a thousand miles. In 1992, Changjiang Road was widened to 33 meters, and motorized/non-motorized separation green belts appeared for the first time. It was also in this year that the State Council issued an approval document, and Hefei officially became an open city.

That year, green train cars crossed the wild. In the wild was the sweeping spring wind. "Open development, remake a new Hefei" became the slogan at the time. Japanese Hitachi Construction Machinery, Sanyo Electric, Italian Meroni, Singapore Jiayuan, and other multinational companies landed in Hefei.

Inclusiveness and openness began to become obvious marks of this city of Hefei. In 1995, the JAC Motor Factory that walked out of difficulty developed light truck products, pioneering the trend of Chinese light truck sedanization. In the same year, Wang Chuanfu, born in Chaohu, Anhui, resigned and started a business, founding BYD, quickly becoming a giant in the global battery industry, surpassing Japanese Sony, Panasonic, and other companies.

Wang Chuanfu at that time was also gambling for a future. This "gambling heart" spread in Anhui, in Hefei, in the heart of every Anhui person.

In 2008, Central Changjiang Road welcomed renovation again. The road width reached 46 meters, bidirectional 8 lanes, like a key, gently unlocking the dark lock of Hefei people's collective memory.

That year, the Hefei government stopped subway construction and made a second "high-stakes gamble".

At this time, cooperation talks between BOE and places like Shenzhen and Shanghai all failed due to the disruption of Japanese Sharp Corporation, bumping into walls everywhere. However, Hefei's fiscal budget income was 30.1 billion yuan, only 16.1 billion yuan belonged to the place. It was very difficult to want to build a 6th generation line investing 17.5 billion yuan.

Hefei at that time was like a silent newbie at a poker table, with not many good cards in hand. Putting out this money was equivalent to emptying half of the whole year's savings.

However, Hefei once again showed the courage to accommodate USTC. At a critical moment, Hefei made the call, "No matter what other places make as conditions, Hefei will follow, even raising the price." "Even if we smash pots and sell iron, we must do it!"

Many people thought Hefei went mad, this was gambling with the future of all the city's people. Or, at that time, it was also called all-in. Hefei finally built this 6th generation line for BOE.

BOE also became the first visible turning point for Hefei "architecting" the future.

"The Rebel"

Marx wrote in the book "Machinery, Natural Forces, and the Application of Science": Gunpowder exploded the knight class, the compass opened the world market, printing press promoted the spread of trends, and finally science promoted the arrival of the new world.

When the Internet tide surged, the traditional automotive industry encountered unprecedented strong enemies. In 2014, it was the first year of China's new energy vehicles. Li Bin, this bull herder from Taohu County, left Anhui and founded NIO.

What was Hefei like at that time? BOE successively built 8.5th generation lines and 10.5th generation lines in Hefei. Total investment exceeded 100 billion yuan, making Hefei one of the world's largest display base.

After a successful battle on betting BOE, Hefei did not stop the feet of exploration. Instead, it walked fast with small steps along the idea of "investment leading industry". In 2016, Hefei targeted storage chips again. GigaDevice wanted to build a DRAM production line, Hefei pulled it to establish CXMT, and Hefei SASAC invested capital.

Chinese domestic DRAM at that time was a blank sheet of paper, no technology, no industrial chain, no reputation. Chinese storage breakthrough was purely hitting stones with eggs. Three months of arguing, Hefei put out one-third of the city's fiscal revenue at that time.

In 2017, Rail Transit Line 2 ran underground on Central Changjiang Road like an iron dragon. Changjiang Road possessed a three-dimensional traffic pattern for the first time. Hefei people sitting on Line 2 had supporters and complainers. Another one-third of fiscal revenue. This gambling agreement was not small.

But, precisely because of such a gamble, in the same year, Hefei entered the Comprehensive National Science Center, defeating many second-tier cities, aligning with Beijing and Shanghai. Someone gave Hefei a title, "The Rebel".

However, Hefei's打法 was not fighting unprepared battles. Before investing in a project, send a team to the industry to feel around for three months, clarify production capacity, technology routes, and customer lists entirely, feel it is reliable, then move forward.

This set was also used on gambling NIO. This is a well-known gambling arena. It was precisely this gambling that made a private equity magnate on Weibo exclaim, "The most awesome VC institution in China is actually the Hefei Municipal Government."

This high-stakes gamble happened in 2020. At that time, NIO stood on the cliff's edge. Asset-liability ratio was 150%, stock price fell to $1 delisting red line, Shanghai factory plan fell through, Li Bin recited every day that NIO lived in ICU, life on the brink.

Using fiscal money to connect a new force car company that was about to fall off the cliff, many people thought this move was too crazy, the title "Gambler City" was placed on Hefei.

Hefei chose to act out, which was also said to be "The Rebel" at the time. Like investing in iFlytek in 1999 to help it pass difficulties, investing in BOE in 2008 when it was losing over 1 billion yuan... Hefei's invested projects that were taken over were almost all "hopeless" troubled enterprises.

This rebelliousness is Hefei's confidence and affirmation in "architecting" the future. Taking over NIO also stems from two certainties in judgment for the future. One is that the new energy track is long-term positive. Two is that NIO's team and product foundation are still present, difficulties are reversible.

However, Hefei chose a dangerous road: gamble on industry.

Throwing money to save NIO was not the final purpose of Anhui and Hefei. The purpose was to build industrial chains. BOE rooted itself in Hefei at that time and also brought the entire display panel industry chain, making Hefei leap to become the "Screen Capital". Under the influence of CXMT, over 200 semiconductor enterprises have already settled in Hefei.

So, in the investment on NIO, Anhui wanted to build a new energy industry chain. Therefore, Anhui SASAC took Hefei Construction Investment as the core, united with central SOEs National Investment & Development, Anhui High-tech Investment, to jointly inject 7 billion yuan in strategic investment into NIO China. After the investment landed, NIO quickly walked out of difficulty.

At this point, display panels, chips, and new energy vehicles in Hefei formed a web. This web is just as Marx said, "The compass opened the world market, science promoted the arrival of the new world."

Those universities and research institutes that looked "a bit far from industry" suddenly became popular. Among them, USTC was the top priority.

Since then, people always ask, this city that is neither north nor south, on what basis did it counter-attack into a sci-tech dark horse?

From a geographical location perspective, although Hefei is in the middle of Wan, it happens to be between Huaihe and Yangtze rivers, split in two by the Jianghuai watershed. Naturally, it does not belong purely to the north, nor is it easy to be categorized into a complete south. For a long period, it was not regarded as the true provincial capital of Anhui, otherwise there wouldn't be the meme "Nanjing is the Hefei Capital".

Green brick grey tiles with horse head walls outline the skyline, carrying the memory of Hefei's fireworks and the fusion of north and south cultures. It is exactly this geographical location that made Hefei have less north-south controversy, but instead because of the "not defining" itself, let Hefei be full of vitality and creativity.

Also originating from this "not defining", it let Hefei have the confidence and flexibility of "rebellion". In Hefei High-tech Zone, there is a road named "Innovation Avenue". On this side of the road, is USTC High-tech Campus and USTC Silicon Valley core area Zhong'an Chuanggu Park. On the other side of the road is iFlytek Co., Ltd. The three are no more than 5 kilometers apart. That is the base of Hefei "architecting" the future.

Speaking of this, once again recalling 1990, the old JAC factory director said in the annual summary meeting, "What we rely on is not luck, it is an undefeated fighting spirit. As long as this momentum is there, there is a future!"

Whether rebellious or gambler city, in the end, it is an undefeated fighting spirit.

"Industries that can be retained"

Yin Tongyue, who did the automotive industry in Wuhu, Anhui, said: "When others are flying on the wind, we are really lying flat on the ground, building systems, doing processes. Now the wind has stopped, it is time for us to take off." The confidence for Yin Tongyue to say this comes from connection.

Nowadays, Hefei's connection has reached perfection.

Relying on the connection logic of "play one piece, activate the whole game", success experiences have been replicated on many new tracks such as chips, cars, screens, AI, etc.

What makes Hefei truly the "Top VC City" is still decades of education and science accumulation. 38 Institutes and other top universities and research institutes gather here. Hefei Vocational and Technical College has even established "BOE Class" and "NIO Class". Talent supporting is everything. Education and Hefei's mutual achievement perfectly interprets the logic of "cities nurture universities, universities revitalize cities".

Open up industry-academia-research, let technology "lay eggs along the way". Hefei's road of investing in BOE, CXMT, and NIO is very similar. Not only盯着 whether a company makes money, but staring at the entire industrial chain behind the company.

Like 7 billion yuan investment saved NIO, it brought manufacturing, R&D, supplier systems together to Hefei. NIO built three factories in Hefei, total capacity over 1.2 million vehicles.

After NIO moved in, local rate requirements increased from 30% to 70% in 2024. You could say, NIO is the敲门砖 for Hefei's new energy vehicle industry. NIO promoted parts near-ground supporting in Xinqiao Intelligent Electric Vehicle Industrial Park, layouted Xinqiao, Lu'an and other industrial parks within 1.5-hour circle of Hefei.

After NIO landed, Hefei targeted batteries, motors, electronic controls and other key links for targeted introduction, forming a "leading dragon drive, chain extension" investment promotion network. Based on this, BYD factory landed in Hefei. From negotiation to signing only 23 days. From signing to start construction 42 days. From start construction to vehicle off the line less than 10 months.

At present, Hefei has gathered JAC, BYD, NIO, Volkswagen, Changan, Ankai and other 6 whole vehicle enterprises. Gotion High-Tech, EVE Energy and other battery enterprises followed up. Yanfeng, Yanfeng Fico and other parts enterprises crowded densely. The whole industry chain of whole vehicles plus parts has been formed.

At present, Hefei has 6 whole vehicle enterprises, 703 key-regulated enterprises, over 2,000 industrial chain related enterprises. It has already realized "without leaving Hefei, you can build a complete new energy vehicle".

In Hefei, many people from outside working in various automotive brands, daily commute between Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, etc., also deeply perceive this "comprehensiveness". Some say, in the building rented, lives a pile of peers, people from different whole vehicles and industry chains, can all meet. Out of the residential gate, scattered to the buildings of major car companies.

"This was unthinkable before. Before, how many people from big cities came to Hefei." Old Hefei automotive people are very emotional about this.

Not giving money, giving chains. Drawing a perfect industrial chain map, just need to come and fill in the blanks. This is Hefei's investment logic. Under the leadership of this logic, people from all sides pour into Hefei. The former questioning voices slowly fade. Nowadays, Hefei is very hard to be ignored.

From results back tracing, in the past twenty years, Hefei almost caught every economic wind and industrial wind. "Every battle must be fought, every fight must win" industry investment and financing "Hefei Model" also makes many people feel Hefei is all walking on the wind.

Actually, Hefei is lying flat on the ground, building systems and doing processes, turning "visible heat" into "industries that can be retained".

"This city business card from proposal, experienced several terms of local governments and have not changed, indeed it is a blueprint drawn to the end, I think it is very rare." Hu Yan, Dean of Hefei Regional Economy and Urban Development Research Institute, stated.

On January 6, the 1 millionth mass-produced vehicle of NIO came off the line in Hefei Xinqiao No. 2 Factory, NIO officially entered the "Million Unit Club". Two months later, Volkswagen and XPeng's first jointly developed model "Zhongzhong 08" officially put into production in Fei. From official announcement of cooperation to model start mass production, only used 24 months.

No. 99 BYD Avenue, Xiatang Town, Changfeng County, Hefei BYD factory. On average, one new car comes off the line every 50 seconds. This is "Hefei Speed". In 2025, Anhui Province's total automotive output was 3.6865 million vehicles, becoming the province with the first automotive output in the nation...

A complete industrial chain map is Hefei's "architecting" power. Chen Yan, Chief Strategy Officer of Zero Gravity Aircraft Industries, said: "Without leaving Hefei Metropolitan Area, we can find all related parts suppliers such as batteries, auxiliary materials."

Hefei's打法 is to move the track directly in, letting the city and industry grow together. This打法 has been repeatedly verified in the past multiple years. You could say, Hefei writes the times, and the times also engrave Hefei.

Car lights projected on the wall, fireworks bloom. That is Hefei architecting a new era. Hefei USTC Silicon Valley also hides the password of Hefei's rise. However, for Hefei facing the world's planning, it is not enough.

From "one building" to "a forest", everything is just the beginning. Forward, solve "linking the world". To the future, solve "from 1 to 100". Hefei still needs to continue to "gather strength" with pragmatic innovation to rush forward.

Not gambling, is winning.