The first "Overseas Chinese Automotive Engineers Global Connection" event in November 2021 was a resounding success, generating a huge response from the automotive community in Mainland China and other countries. An impressive 300,000 online viewers (total accumulative 350,000) were reached over the two weekends for the 12-hour event, which was streamed live on ZXZC Auto. Dozens of media outlets, including China News Service, the largest external news media in China, Sina Finance, Global Times, China QiaoWang, China Automotive News and ZXZC Auto, reported on the event, praising it as a catalyst for international communication and a ‘new indicator’ for technological advancement in the industry. It is foreseeable that with the increasing implementation of global decarbonisation policies and the rapid development of new energy and smart connected vehicle technologies, related topics will be attracting more and more attention, especially the exchange of information from the international automotive industrial community.

The event has greatly facilitated collaboration between overseas automotive engineers' associations worldwide, creating a new model for holding online interactive exchanges on a global scale and creating conditions for further cooperation between all Chinese Societies of automotive engineers in different countries in the future. The great success of this global networking event shows that the collaboration between overseas Chinese automotive engineers' associations fits in the current trend. At the same time, the event demonstrated the power of overseas associations joining together, with an effect and influence that no single association can achieve by organising events individually. The success of this event has established the status of "Overseas Chinese Automotive Engineers" itself and has allowed us to develop for the future.

On this basis, we have decided to establish the "Global Alliance of Overseas Chinese Societies of Automotive Engineers” to build a platform for equal cooperation based on the entities of associations of local overseas Chinese automotive engineers and open the doors to other overseas Chinese automotive organisations. The alliance will further develop the brand of Global Connections and carry out more kinds of activities through complementary collaboration with related organisations in China, to facilitate the exchange among overseas Chinese automotive engineers and at the same time devoted to the development of each association itself.

Therefore, the objective of the Global Alliance of Overseas Chinese Societies of Automotive Engineers is to provide services for our Chinese automotive engineers worldwide, to jointly build a platform to promote communication and cooperation between our Chinese and international automotive counterparts, to share information on relevant technologies and developments in the automotive industry, to expand the links between members and associations, to promote cooperation between associations, and to enhance communication and friendship among members.

The Organising Committee of the alliance held its first formal working meeting on 28 August 2022 and established the rotating mechanism of the Alliance Chairmanship. The meeting has elected the UK-China Society of Automotive Engineers as the first president of the Alliance where Hongming Xu, president of the UK-China Society of Automotive Engineers, as the first rotating Chairman of the Alliance, while the main leaders in other co-proposing associations as Vice-Chairmen. The term is for two years. We hope to further develop/ the various activities of overseas Chinese automotive engineers (including the annual Global Connect) and explore more opportunities to achieve sustainable development of our common cause and contribute to the achievement of decarbonisation.