Chinese President Xi Jinping today began a two-day visit to New Delhi to attend the BRICS Summit, his first visit to the country in seven years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host him for bilateral talks on Saturday evening.
Jinping’s delegation includes Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
While all eyes are on the meeting’s outcome, Jinping’s car has also been making headlines.
The security motorcades of world leaders double as a show of strength during their foreign visits. For decades, the armoured Cadillac One of the American president, colloquially known as The Beast, commanded the global spotlight.
Today, it seems to have met its match in the Hongqi N701, the heavily guarded, ultra-exclusive state limousine designed exclusively for the Chinese president.
Reports and the images of the car indicate that the car has been built under profound secrecy by China’s oldest passenger car marque, FAW Group’s Hongqi. It is reportedly engineered to withstand gunfire, chemical attacks, and explosive threats.
Spotted during Jinping’s state visits from Bali and to New Delhi and , the N701 is an apex machine and seems to have been introduced around 2022. Reports indicate that FAW plans to manufacture only around 50 units over a ten-year cycle, dedicated solely to high-level state functions and official leadership.
While the Chinese government does not publish formal schematics of the presidential vehicle, several reports have pointed to comprehensive defence systems:
Heavily armoured limousines routinely weigh well over 3 to 5 metric tonnes due to ballistic reinforcement. To keep such weight moving with authority, the N701 reportedly relies on high-displacement propulsion.
According to domestic Chinese patent filings and automotive intelligence, the N701 platform is powered by either an upgraded 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine producing approximately 408 hp, or a modern 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 paired with a hybrid electric powertrain, developed in-house by FAW.
Most world leaders, including the Chinese, have historically relied on modified imported vehicles, such as or BMW luxury limousines, for diplomatic travel. Jinping made a deliberate directive early in his tenure, urging Chinese state institutions to abandon foreign brands in favour of domestic engineering.
The Hongqi N701 showcases that China is using domestic muscle to safeguard its head of state. Just like the US Beast or Russia’s Aurus Senat, the Hongqi N701 can be seen as an automotive diplomacy at its peak: a fusion of national pride, luxury, and defensive engineering.
