50 Geely GC9s Delivered For China's Diplomatic Fleet

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Service Bureau would continue to use Geely’s flagship GC9 sedan in its diplomatic fleet. The new fleet, consisting 50 units of the GC9 were delivered to the Beijing Diplomatic Service Bureau, which will be used during to ferry official guests, diplomats, and other dignitaries during their visits to China.

The Chinese government enacted a series of official car policy reforms starting in 2012, aimed at promoting the use of Chinese car brands for state use. Geely and its GC9 sedan were selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Service Bureau to be used as part of their diplomatic fleet in China. On March 20, 2015, the first batch of 20 Geely GC9 official diplomatic vehicles was delivered for state use.

This development is noteworthy because Geely wasn't initially supported by the Chinese Government.

The Geely GC9 is a sales leader in the Chinese domestic market and has outperformed most foreign D-segment offerings. Geely claims the GC9’s success was partly due to its status as a national diplomatic vehicle.

Beijing Diplomatic Service Bureau Director General, Yuan Weimin comments, "Two years ago, we selected Geely GC9 after careful consideration to be our diplomatic fleet vehicle. Since then, they have completed their tasks without fault, all the while showcasing Geely’s passion for quality and technology.”

He added, “The performance and reliability of the vehicles have improved our reputation and quality of service. Our experience with the previous Geely GC9 model has given us confidence in the strength of the new Geely GC9”.

The GC9 is Geely’s first flagship sedan of their 3.0 generation range and was first launched in 2014. The platform and chassis of the GC9 were developed together with Volvo, while suspension fine tuning being undertaken by Australia’s Prodrive. The GC9 is offered with either a 1.8-litre turbo or 2.4 and 3.5-litre naturally aspirated engines.

The facelifted 2017 model (like the ones delivered) has since received an aesthetic facelift, tweaks for better handling, an updated 1.8-litre turbocharged engine, upgraded infotainment and better NVH performance.