For decades, Chinese carmakers have been working to catch up with global brands. Now it is the other way around, at least in the new energy vehicle sector, as evidenced at the Shanghai auto show.

The event, which kicked off on April 18 and runs to April 27, has attracted more than 1,000 car companies and auto suppliers to showcase their latest products and technologies.

In past years, it would be the booths of global marques such as Volkswagen and BMW that would see the most visitors, but that has not been the case this year.

Instead, Chinese brands such as BYD and Aion are even attracting representatives from international brands to learn about how far endogenous technologies have progressed in the world's largest vehicle market.

BYD, China's largest NEV maker, started presales of its luxury Yangwang U8 off-roader at the Shanghai auto show.

Priced at more than 1 million yuan ($145,064), the model features BYD's latest technologies, ranging from the e4 platform, the Yunnian vehicle control system as well as its blade-shaped batteries.

The e4 platform is a system with a four-motor independent drive as its core. Among other things, it enables the model to do a smooth "crab walk". The Yunnian system, the first of its kind in the NEV sector, can make the vehicle run as usual with only three tires.

Aion is showcasing the first model from its premium marque Hyper. The Hyper GT is based on the carmaker's AEP 3.0 platform and the Xingling E/E architecture.

Xingling is the world's most powerful sensing system to improve smart vehicles' safety, said the carmaker.

Chinese battery maker CATL unveiled its condensed battery at the event, saying it will begin mass production later this year.

The new battery, with an energy density of up to 500 watt-hours per kilogram, achieves high-energy density and a high level of safety at the same time.

Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, said he would visit the booths of Chinese brands at the Shanghai auto show.

"I'm passionate about cars, so I will visit Chinese car brands. For me, it's always inspiring," said Blume.

"The Chinese market is a trend-setter. Chinese customers are young. They are very addicted to technology, to innovations. That drives the whole market," he said.