, Columnist
China's Electric Switch
Foreign automakers could ramp up production more quickly and local companies would gain expertise.
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China's plan to let foreign carmakers like Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG set up wholly owned electric-car businesses, exempting them from auto industry rules that require joint ventures with local partners, is already being hailed as a landmark opening of market access.
That may be the case. But there's another force under the hood: economics.