China Becoming Leading Vehicle Exporter

(October 2022) The automobile industry has always been regarded as one of the hallmarks of a country's manufacturing prowess and China is fast becoming one of the world’s major vehicle exporting countries. According to UN Comtrade in 2021 China's exports of passenger vehicles* increased by 76% YOY and amounted to 3.0 units, making China the third-largest vehicle exporting nation behind only Japan with 4.4 million units and Germany with 3.5 million units. It overtook South Korea and US which exported just 2.5 and 2.4 million vehicles in 2021 respectively.

According to data from UN Comtrade China’s main export destinations are not only emerging markets where cost often took precedence over quality, but also such developed countries as US, Belgium, UK, Austria and Germany.

The most recent data from the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China shows that China overtook Germany as the world's second-largest vehicle exporter in August, and is now second only to Japan. 1.7 million passenger vehicles were shipped out of China in the first nine months of 2022 including 672 thousand electric vehicles.

*HS 8703 - Motor cars and other motor vehicles; principally designed for the transport of persons