From July 3rd to 5th, the 2025 China Tire Anatomy Symposium, hosted by the National Rubber Tire Quality Inspection and Testing Center, convened in Beijing. Under the theme "Better Tires, Leaner, Greener Ecology," the conference directly addressed the powerful waves of carbon neutrality, new energy, and intelligent manufacturing. Currently, China's tire industry stands at a critical juncture, facing both significant challenges and opportunities. The rapid development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) is imposing new demands on tires, compelling the entire industry toward a pivotal moment of transformation and upgrading. Industry experts, leaders, and enterprise representatives gathered to discuss development strategies and explore a shared path forward.

1. Triple Pressures Converge: Carbon Constraints, NEV Demands, and Trade Barriers Force Transformation

• The NEV Revolution: Electric vehicles impose entirely new performance requirements on tires – low rolling resistance, high load capacity, noise reduction, enhanced wear resistance, and superior grip. Traditional technological systems face severe challenges in meeting these demands.

• Deepening "Dual Carbon" Goals: China's national policy is shifting from dual control of energy consumption towards dual control of carbon emissions, as outlined in the "Accelerating the Establishment of a Dual-Control System for Carbon Emissions" policy. The petrochemical and chemical industry, including tire manufacturing, will soon be incorporated into the national carbon market, drastically increasing corporate carbon cost pressures. The industry, involving high-carbon segments like materials, manufacturing, and logistics, faces extreme urgency in reducing emissions.

• Mounting International Green Barriers: With the EU being a major export market for Chinese tires (over 50%), its continuously escalating regulations – including carbon footprint accounting, mandated recycled material content, and restrictions on hazardous chemicals (e.g., new tire labeling regulations, battery passport requirements extending upstream) – are forcing comprehensive life-cycle carbon management and green manufacturing practices.

2. Breaking Technological Barriers: Material Revolution, Process Innovation, Circular Economy – A Three-Pronged Attack
Focusing on critical pathways for technological breakthroughs:

• Material Innovation: Research, develop, and apply high-performance, renewable, bio-based rubbers and environmentally friendly additives (e.g., silica replacing carbon black) to lower rolling resistance, enhance wear resistance, and improve environmental performance. Explore performance enhancement using nanomaterials like graphene.

• Process & Equipment Upgrading: Leverage policy incentives like the large-scale equipment renewal program (offering 20% subsidies) to phase out outdated capacity. Introduce high-efficiency, energy-saving equipment (e.g., new mixers, vulcanizers, compressors) and advance intelligent manufacturing (AI-optimized formulations/parameters, digital twin simulation testing) to boost energy efficiency and product quality consistency.

• Accelerating the Circular Economy: Significantly improve tire recycling and reuse levels (physical recycling, chemical regeneration, pyrolysis). Learn from the high recycling rate experiences (>90% in EU, Japan, Korea; 80% in US) to establish robust collection networks and advanced processing technologies. Increase the proportion of recycled rubber/reclaimed materials used in new tires, reducing consumption of virgin resources and carbon emissions.

3. Building a New Green Intelligent Manufacturing Ecosystem
The conference called for constructing an open, collaborative industrial ecosystem:

• Deep Upstream-Downstream Integration: Tire manufacturers must collaborate closely with vehicle manufacturers, especially NEV makers, engaging from the vehicle design phase to co-define tire performance standards and achieve synergistic carbon reduction. Establish green procurement and low-carbon material R&D platforms with raw material suppliers (petrochemical, natural rubber).

• Industry-Academia-Research-Application Fusion: National centers (like the Rubber Tire Quality Center), research institutions (e.g., Beijing Rubber Institute), and enterprises should jointly tackle core common technologies (e.g., low-carbon formulations, green processes, recycling tech). Create industry-shared databases (e.g., material carbon footprints).

• Cross-Industry Collaboration & Model Innovation: Explore new business models like "Tire-as-a-Service" (TaaS), utilizing leasing, retreading, and closed-loop recycling management to extend tire lifecycle value, reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) for users, and promote circularity. Partner with logistics and recycling firms to build efficient collection and reuse systems.

• Policy & Capital Synergy: Fully utilize policy windows like the dual-control transition, equipment renewal subsidies, and green finance. Attract ESG investment to support green technology innovation and large-scale application within the industry.