The world is more divided than it was a decade ago, and bridging differences is becoming increasingly difficult, yet people can make choices and take action to build connections and increase understanding, Li said.

(Image credit: Nio)

William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio (NYSE: NIO), called for cooperation in a more divided world in an April 13 speech at Harvard University, as Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) face more barriers to entering overseas markets.

Seeking Resonance and Echoing Friendship -- That was the pursuit of the ancient Chinese, Li said in the speech in English, citing an old Chinese poem, "嘤其鸣矣，求其友声."

"Today, we must admit that the world is more divided than ten years ago, and it becomes more and more difficult to bridge differences. However, we can make choices and take actions to build connections, improve communication, and foster understanding," Li said.

"The aspiration of the poetry written 2,600 years ago, the dedication of all the artists 39 years ago, and the values of today's forum, they all bring us to a common sense, that is: Cooperation is always a better option," he said.

China is the largest automotive market and the most open. As a young startup, Nio has to compete with all the international giants, Li noted in his speech.

"We do not expect China to adopt policies to protect domestic players. Because we also see the other side of the coin, where openness will ultimately benefit industries and sustainability, and make the best companies even better," he said.

Li also cited Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) success in China, saying the US EV maker has done much in helping Chinese consumers be more receptive to EVs.

"Tesla has a Gigafactory in Shanghai, and in the last three years, it sold more than 1.36 million cars in China. Model Y was the best-selling model last year. The Shanghai factory and the Chinese market are very important to Tesla's success," he said.

"In the meantime, Tesla's presence has influenced consumers, boosted EV penetration, and even energized the automotive industry in China," Li added.

Li also talked about his childhood and why he founded Nio in the speech.

Below is the full text of his speech in English.

Congratulations Chris and Andy, great event!

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning!

I'm William Li, founder of Nio.

It's a great honor for me to speak with all of you here today. Thank you very much.

Harvard University is the one I greatly admire. 18 years ago, I visited the beautiful campus. Nio's co-founder, Lihong, got his master's degree from HKS in 2001. He often talks about his interesting experience studying here.

In 2022, Professor William Kirby from HBS wrote a case study on Nio's global strategy. Because of all these ties, when I received the invitation, I immediately said Yes.

I recently watched a documentary, called The Greatest Night in Pop. It tells the story behind the famous song We are the World, performed by 45 top American artists.

The song was made in 1985, when I was just 11 years old, living in a small mountain village of Central China. After school, I had to do all kinds of farm work before having time to finish my homework under an oil lamp.

As a happy and naughty boy, I had many ideas for the future. Since my village just got its first paved road that year, and electricity was not even available until several years later, I certainly didn't expect that one day I would start up an EV company.

As a reward for my hard work, my father gave me a radio as a New Year's gift. That radio sparked my curiosity and imagination. When it's getting dark, I always gazed into the mountains, imagining of exploring beyond the mountains.

I didn't start to learn basic ABC until junior high, and my English teacher herself had only studied English for one year. So please bear with my accent. I'm still practicing.

Then, I made it to Peking University, the top university in China. There, I heard the song We are the World for the first time. That powerful song has inspired many people of my generation.

In 1996, during my university years, I founded one of the first web hosting companies in China. After that, I founded several Internet companies.

In 2012, faced with severe air pollution at the time, I told myself, I should do something. Two years later, I founded Nio.

Nio's Chinese name is蔚来. 蔚来 is pronounced the same as the word future in Chinese. It means blue sky coming. We hope to contribute to solving global climate change by innovating in technologies and services, encouraging more and more users to choose smart EVs. Achieving this vision requires global resources, that's why Nio chose to be a global startup from day one.

In 2015, when Nio was just founded in Shanghai, we established R&D centers in Silicon Valley, Munich and Oxford. Today, Nio is a public company listed in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, with investors from around the world and employees from more than 40 countries and regions. Now, Nio offers products and services in six countries, and is expanding into more markets.

Since the first deliveries in 2018, Nio has delivered nearly 500,000 premium EVs. Last year, we realized a 40 percent market share in China's premium battery EV segment. In the upcoming one year, we will release two new brands for the mass market and entry-level market.

China is the largest automotive market, and also the most open one. As a young startup, we have to compete with all the international giants. We have to compete with a dozen of well-established domestic automakers. We have to compete with a dozen of outstanding startups.

Competition will lead to greater investment, longer time to breakeven, less margin for mistakes, and lower chances of success. Of course, we know that. However, we do not expect China to adopt policies to protect domestic players.

Because we also see the other side of the coin, where openness will ultimately benefit industries and sustainability, and make the best companies even better.

Last month, the penetration rate of NEVs among new car sales reached 41 percent. And that number was only 10 percent three years ago. An open market has been essential to the rapid growth of EV adoption in China. Good products, regardless of their brands or origins, are all welcome.

Tesla has a Gigafactory in Shanghai, and in the last three years, it sold more than 1.36 million cars in China. Model Y was the best-selling model last year. The Shanghai factory and the Chinese market are very important to Tesla's success.

In the meantime, Tesla's presence has influenced consumers, boosted EV penetration, and even energized the automotive industry in China.

Nio and other car companies are competitors. But when it comes to climate change, we are actually competing teammates, or in Chinese, 竞争队友.

I learned this term from my son. Once I was on a call, talking about Nio's competitors. And my eldest son cut in and said, “Dad, competing teammates.” He sounded right. But to be honest, he was only five or six.

I couldn't tell if he was so smart to see the essence of competition or just confused by the similar pronunciation of 对手 and 队友 in Chinese. As a father, I hope it's the former.

Indeed, Nio is very open in sharing its technologies and infrastructure to its competing teammates. In China, Nio is the car company with the most public chargers. Its 20,000 plus charging piles are accessible by all EV users, and in fact, 80 percent of the electricity is supplied to non-Nio cars.

Nio also has a unique battery swap solution. It allows cars to swap in a fully charged battery in just three minutes. So far, in China and Europe, more than 2,400 battery swap stations are up and running, having provided over 41 million swaps.

Since last November, Nio has partnered with four major car companies in China in sharing the battery swap technologies and the infrastructure network. More partnership of this kind is on the way.

Such openness isn't just in our technologies or facilities, but also in the Nio user community. In September, 2022, we celebrated the first anniversary of Nio House Oslo. After the official celebration event, I walked outside and saw hundreds of Nio users singing and dancing. They had brought party to the street!

I couldn't help but dance with them. Of course, my dancing was no less awkward than my English. But I really enjoyed it. Even if we speak different languages, when we are open to each other, we can share joy and laughter.

I can really relate to the theme today, 嘤其鸣矣，求其友声, Seeking Resonance and Echoing Friendship. That was the pursuit of the ancient Chinese.

Today, we must admit that the world is more divided than ten years ago, and it becomes more and more difficult to bridge differences. However, we can make choices and take actions to build connections, improve communication, and foster understanding.

The aspiration of the poetry written 2,600 years ago, the dedication of all the artists 39 years ago, and the values of today's forum, they all bring us to a common sense, that is:

Cooperation is always a better option.

Thank you.