Other Chinese cars came to compete.
Hongqi came to preside.
Across eight generations of Chinese leadership, one marque has carried the nation's head of state. Not by accident, but by design.
The car of eight Premiers.
Since the CA72 first carried Premier Zhou Enlai through Tiananmen Square in 1959, every Chinese head of state has been carried in a Hongqi. Mao Zedong's personal CA72 — reportedly painted black with cream interior — is preserved today in the National Museum of China. His successors inherited the tradition, and each generation of Chinese leadership has had a corresponding generation of Hongqi ceremonial sedan built for the role.
The current generation L5 — the ultra-flagship — entered service in 2014 and has carried President Xi Jinping through the ceremonial functions of his tenure, from G20 summits to Belt and Road Forums to foreign state visits. The N701 — a more road-ready long-wheelbase limousine — performs the day-to-day role, deployed both domestically and abroad during official visits.
The car that Malaysians know by sight.
The L5 is the most expensive production car ever built in China — priced from approximately five million yuan, or around RM 3 million, at current exchange rates. Each unit is effectively commissioned, with specification, upholstery, and interior layout tailored to the purchaser. Production is measured in low single-digit hundreds per year.
In 2024, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim — the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia — became the first foreign head of state to take official delivery of the second-generation L5, a gift from the Chinese government. The vehicle was received in a formal ceremony that marked both the fiftieth anniversary of Malaysia–China diplomatic relations and the continuing significance of the L5 as an instrument of state protocol.
The travelling limousine.
Where the L5 is reserved for the most formal occasions, the N701 performs the broader role of state travel. A long-wheelbase limousine built on the H9 platform but extended, reinforced, and specified for diplomatic service, the N701 is the vehicle most commonly seen in the daily movement of the Chinese head of state.
During President Xi Jinping's 2024 state visit to Malaysia, the N701 was specially flown into Kuala Lumpur to serve as his official vehicle for the duration of the visit — reportedly the first time a Chinese state limousine had been deployed in Malaysia for such a purpose.
Why this matters.
Many car companies produce vehicles used by heads of state. Mercedes-Benz has supplied the German government for decades. Bentley and Rolls-Royce have carried British monarchs and ministers. Cadillac builds The Beast for the United States President.
What distinguishes Hongqi is the inverse relationship: most luxury brands that supply state cars are first and foremost commercial luxury marques that happen to also make ceremonial vehicles. Hongqi is first and foremost a ceremonial marque that has begun, in the last fifteen years, to also produce commercial luxury vehicles.
The E-HS9 and H9 arriving in Malaysia are not state cars in the strict sense. But they carry the same formal language, the same vertical grille, the same red flag — the same institutional DNA as the vehicles in which the Premier of China has travelled since 1959.