China's auto exports are showing strong momentum, and localization and industrial chain coordination have become the key to development

At 1 a.m., the Khorgos Road Port in Xinjiang is still brightly lit. Domestic commercial vehicles are lined up neatly, waiting to be sold overseas after customs clearance. According to statistics from the Khorgos Customs, a total of 421,000 vehicles were exported from this port in 2024, representing a significant increase of 38.6% compared to the previous year. As the largest land passage for China's auto exports, the Khorgos Port has witnessed the rapid growth of China's auto exports.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM for short), China's auto exports reached 551,000 units in May, a month-on-month increase of 6.6% and a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. From January to May, 2.49 million vehicles were exported, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.9%. Among them, 212,000 new energy vehicles were exported in May, a year-on-year increase of 1.2 times. From January to May, 855,000 new energy vehicles were exported, representing a year-on-year increase of 64.6%.

Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, pointed out that currently, the overall operation of China's automotive industry is showing a stable and improving trend, and market vitality is constantly being released. In May, the growth rate of auto exports saw a significant increase, rising both month-on-month and year-on-year. The growth rate of new energy vehicle exports is a major highlight and has also driven up the overall export situation of automobiles.

From the perspective of export destinations, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, analyzed and pointed out that the top five countries where China's vehicle exports increased in May compared with the same period last year were the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Australia, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan. The Middle East market will become the core market for the increase in auto exports in 2025.

China's auto exports are gradually shifting from the past situation where Central and South America accounted for a relatively high proportion and other parts of Asia such as Southeast Asia and South Asia performed strongly to the current situation where Central and South America and the Middle East perform relatively strongly. Especially in recent times, regions such as the Middle East and Central and South America have performed relatively strongly compared to last year. Cui Dongshu said.

Liu Yan, a senior researcher at the China Automotive Strategy and Policy Research Center, told a reporter in an interview that the continuous growth of China's auto exports is the result of the joint promotion of internal and external factors.

On the one hand, the quality and brand building of Chinese brand automobiles have made progress, and the global competitiveness of their products has been continuously enhanced. Relevant data shows that the average PPH (Problems Per Hundred, that is, the number of faults per 100 new vehicles) value of the overall quality of new vehicles in the industry in 2024 was 153, a decrease compared to 181 in 2023, indicating an improvement in quality performance. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of "carbon peaking", the global automotive industry is accelerating its transformation towards intelligence and electrification. The demand for electric vehicles in both domestic and international consumer markets is constantly increasing. Asia, Latin America and other regions have become new engines for the growth of global electric vehicle sales. Liu Yan said.

The localization strategy has been advanced in depth

Enterprises in the industrial chain work together to go global

Under the trend of Chinese auto brands accelerating their global expansion, related enterprises are no longer confined to merely exporting products but are also actively promoting a more comprehensive global layout.

Previously, BYD announced the establishment of its European headquarters in Hungary, which will undertake three core functions: sales and after-sales service, vehicle certification and testing, and localized design and function development of vehicle models. At present, BYD's factories in Thailand and Uzbekistan have both been completed and put into operation, and its production bases in Brazil and Hungary will also be put into operation in the future. Judging from the current situation, the overseas market has huge development potential, and the trend of exports will continue to improve. We are also very much looking forward to the performance of the overseas market this year. A relevant person in charge of BYD told the reporter.

Saic Motor has also released its overseas Strategy 3.0, the "Glocal Strategy", which is a combined strategy of "global + local". For different markets, SAIC will introduce different "going global" strategies. In the Southeast Asian market, SAIC will deepen its localization cooperation with ASEAN and build a KD factory. In the markets of Latin America, the Middle East and Australia and New Zealand, we will continue to deepen our Local presence in line with the strategic orientation of full localization. In the African market, with Egypt, Morocco and South Africa as strategic fulcrums, we will use these points to drive the overall situation and achieve regional linkage. Jia Jianxu, president of SAIC Motor, said.

In addition to vehicle brands, China's automotive industry chain is also further strengthening coordination to jointly promote the formation of a new global automotive market pattern.

Bai Hua, the general manager of the Solution and Delivery Department of China Unicom Smart Network Technology, told reporters that as a communication operator, China Unicom has made deployments in many countries around the world. With the accelerated pace of Chinese auto brands going global, China Unicom Smart Network Technology is also further leveraging its own advantages and working hand in hand with auto manufacturers to explore overseas localization strategies.

Chinese self-owned brand automobiles have currently achieved global leadership in the field of intelligence. However, the implementation and application of intelligent capabilities cannot do without the support of communication systems. The overseas expansion of the new energy vehicle industry has entered a stage of deep localization, which puts forward higher requirements for the joint overseas expansion of the automotive industry chain. Bai Hua stated that China Unicom Smart Network Technology has local teams in 41 countries and has developed overseas operation management platforms, communication management platforms, cloud management platforms, and vehicle networking platforms for Chinese automotive enterprises, meeting the customized demands for automotive exports, especially for intelligent vehicles.

Challenges and opportunities coexist

Cooperation in multiple fields needs to be strengthened

Although Chinese automakers have achieved remarkable results in their overseas expansion, they still face many challenges and require cooperation in multiple aspects and fields.

Bai Hua believes that, referring to the past paths of other countries, the globalization of the automotive industry cannot be achieved merely by individual automakers going it alone, but requires the collaborative efforts of the entire industrial chain. "Chinese automobiles are the pioneers of the entire industrial chain going global." The industrial chain of China's automobiles should go global in tandem with automakers. Through coordinated layout arrangements, it should provide strong support and backing for the development of China's automobiles overseas, and ultimately achieve a deep embrace of China's automotive industry with the world.

"Overseas localization layout is an inevitable choice for the internationalization of China's automotive industry to a certain extent, and it has multiple significations for Chinese automobiles to go global." " Liu Yan stated that in the face of the current international situation and challenges such as differences in technical standards and compliance systems, China's automotive industry needs to further strengthen cooperation with local authorities and continuously promote localization overseas.

In addition to making use of local resources and avoiding trade risks through means such as technology licensing and joint venture factory establishment, enterprises themselves also need to conduct in-depth research on the certification, access standards and regulations of the target market, carry out product design and technological research and development that are adapted to the local conditions, actively participate in the formulation of relevant international and local standards and technical exchange activities, and promote the alignment of Chinese standards with international standards. Enhance the say in the global automotive industry. Liu Yan believes.

Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Association of Electric Vehicles, pointed out at the 2025 Global New Energy Vehicle Cooperation and Development (Shanghai) Forum that during the process of China's automotive industry's in-depth localization overseas, it will also have an impact on various fields such as the local economy, market and industry. In this new environment, how China's automotive industry, especially vehicle manufacturers, can better develop overseas is a key issue faced by global cooperation in the automotive industry.

We should make good use of China's rich array of hundreds of new vehicle models each year, along with its relatively complete incremental supply chain mainly based on new energy and intelligence, to achieve seamless connection with the global automotive market and the automotive industries of other countries around the world. On the one hand, it enables China's advantages to better empower the global automotive market and industry. On the other hand, it allows other countries and regions to rapidly develop their domestic automotive industries and even create their own domestic automotive brands, thereby achieving complementary resources and mutual benefit and win-win results. Zhang Yongwei said.