Xu Zhijun Leads the Charge, Qiankun Ace Lands: Can Yijing X9 Replicate the 9 Series Myth?
In 2026, the key to victory or defeat for Huawei Automotive lies not in the "HarmonyOS myth," but in the "Qiankun new chapter."
On May 19, Huawei Rotating Chairman Xu Zhijun visited Dongfeng Motor, signed the Qiankun comprehensive deepened strategic cooperation 2.0 agreement with Yijing, and awarded the co-creation team the title of "Full-Stack Native Co-creation Gold Medal Team." An important business visit became a key move in Huawei's Qiankun strategy. Following the great success of the HarmonyOS Smart Mobility AITO M9 under Yu Chengdong's leadership, Qiankun, led by Xu Zhijun, is now sprinting to open Huawei Automotive's "second growth curve" through the Yijing X9.
From the impressive performance of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility to the deep co-creation between Qiankun and Yijing, the Yijing X9 carries both Dongfeng's vision of breaking into the high-end market and Qiankun's important mission of building a benchmark-level smart vehicle solution.
Within Huawei, the relationship between Xu Zhijun and Yu Chengdong is that of a golden partnership combining mentor and friend, and even more so that of strategic partners united from top to bottom. As a Huawei "veteran," Xu Zhijun is Yu Chengdong's superior and also his guide on his career path. Ren Zhengfei评价他“鼻子尖尖，商业嗅觉极其敏感”。而余承东则是华为终端的“猛将”，敢打敢拼、执行力超强。
The two complement each other and advance together. They once led Huawei Terminal to the top of the world in the 3G era, creating an industry miracle; now, in the smart vehicle arena, the two each perform their duties and work in coordination, forming a pattern of "HarmonyOS Smart Mobility + Huawei Qiankun" advancing on two wheels. Yu Chengdong深耕鸿蒙智行，打造出问界M9这一50万级SUV标杆；徐直军搭配靳玉志坐镇乾崑，聚焦高端智能汽车解决方案，而奕境，正是乾崑战略布局中的核心旗舰品牌。
Xu Zhijun's personal visit to Dongfeng this time releases a clear and positive signal: Qiankun will use mature experience as its cornerstone, continue Huawei's successful path in the automotive business, and further explore higher-dimensional development space through model innovation and technological upgrading. HarmonyOS Smart Mobility adopts the mature "smart selection vehicle" model, with Huawei deeply participating in product definition, R&D, and marketing. Under full-chain empowerment, the AITO M9 quickly opened up the high-end market and established a benchmark for high-end smart vehicles of Chinese brands.
But in Xu Zhijun's view, "all in" is not the highest-level cooperation model. Huawei Qiankun, which he leads, has explored a deeper "Jing model" — joint definition, joint development, joint office, and joint marketing, with deep binding across the full cycle and collaboration across the entire chain, achieving "super-integrated" co-creation from the underlying technology to organizational management.
Compared with the efficient empowerment model of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility, the all-dimensional co-creation between Qiankun and Yijing has unique collaborative advantages. The Yijing X9 is a strong alliance of "Huawei full-stack technology + Dongfeng's 57 years of automotive accumulation," combining top-tier smart technology with deep automotive heritage.
As a central state-owned enterprise "national team," Dongfeng has 64 million users, has ranked first among independent complete vehicle groups in authorized invention patents for four consecutive years, and has 57 years of complete vehicle manufacturing experience, a strict quality control system, and a complete supply chain. These are hardcore advantages difficult for automakers previously cooperating with Huawei to match. More importantly, Dongfeng has cultivated the domestic market for many years and has a nationwide sales network and user service system, which is also a key bonus for the Yijing X9 in marketing terminals.
From the perspective of hard product strength, the Yijing X9 fully has the confidence to "recreate a myth." Every configuration targets the "flagship benchmark," with hard strength maxed out, aiming directly at the ceiling of the new Chinese 9-series.
In terms of design, the Yijing X9 creates a flagship posture with "Jingwei Liuguang design aesthetics," with a vehicle length of 5301mm and a wheelbase of 3120mm. The 0.618 golden front-height ratio paired with an extremely flat water-cutting line gives it an aura comparable to million-yuan luxury cars; the original "Starry River Flowing Light" light group, paired with HUAWEI XPIXEL million-pixel smart headlights, and 6 custom paint colors using million-yuan luxury car 5C2B craftsmanship, make both appearance and texture stand out.
In the smart cockpit, it is among the first to be equipped with the HarmonyOS cockpit HarmonySpace 6, debuting dual 17.2-inch Dieyu dual connected screens and a rear ceiling soft-light screen, paired with HUAWEI XSCENE in-vehicle laser projection and an AI multimodal perception system, with ten-screen linkage and a comfortable experience leading同级车型。
In terms of safety performance, the industry's first six-dimensional collision prevention system CAS 5.0, the body adopts 2400MPa ultra-high-strength steel, and it pioneers a three-layer bulletproof armor at the bottom of the battery and a multi-redundancy rescue safety system. From active safety to passive safety, it builds an all-scenario protection barrier, with safety standards maxed out.
In terms of intelligent driving, the entire series comes standard with Huawei Qiankun Smart Driving ADS 5, an 896-line dual-optical-path image-level lidar, and the Qiankun Chitu platform. The lower limit for AEB triggering is reduced to 1km/h, supporting parking-space-to-parking-space 3.0 and driver incapacitation emergency assistance, with smart driving strength in the industry's first tier.
The AITO M9, relying on the technological advantages and mature operations of HarmonyOS Smart Mobility, has become a benchmark work among 500,000-yuan-class SUVs, with both high market reputation and popularity; while the Yijing X9, relying on a new co-creation model, has all of Huawei's latest and best technologies introduced, strongly supported by Dongfeng's manufacturing experience and sales network, and with the triple buff of "technology + manufacturing + channels" stacked together, has both excellent product strength and market implementation capability, further solidifying the product's long-term competitiveness.
"Use Huawei's best and latest technology to empower Dongfeng to build the best products." This statement by Xu Zhijun is both an expectation for Yijing and a firm belief in Qiankun's deep cultivation of the high-end smart vehicle field. Huawei Qiankun CEO Jin Yuzhi also clearly stated: "Yijing is an important strategic brand for Huawei Qiankun, and the latest cutting-edge technologies will all be prioritized for implementation on the Yijing X9."
From the "HarmonyOS myth" of the AITO M9 to the "Qiankun new chapter" of the Yijing X9, Huawei Automotive's "dual 9-series" layout has already taken shape. If the AITO M9 is Huawei Automotive's "pathfinder," verifying the enormous potential of high-end smart vehicles of Chinese brands, then the Yijing X9 is very likely to be the next 9-series "front-runner." With the model advantage of "all-dimensional co-creation" and the hardcore strength of "technology + manufacturing," Yijing is fully capable of reaching a higher market height.
In 2026, Huawei Automotive's new growth pole is focusing on Qiankun Yijing.
Xu Zhijun's visit and the signing of the strategic 2.0 agreement mark that Yijing has officially entered the core strategic territory of Huawei Automotive. The first model, the X9, has maxed-out hard strength. Backed by the two giants Huawei and Dongfeng, helping the Yijing X9 continue the legend of the 9-series is not far-fetched. The highlight moment belonging to Yijing may arrive as scheduled; a brand-new chapter for high-end smart vehicles of Chinese brands is also slowly opening.
