Car Exports The Top Import Countries for Chinese Cars

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China is expanding its leadership as the world's largest exporter in the automotive industry. In the first half of the year, the country's car exports increased by about a quarter compared to the same period last year.

The new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. and EU are having an impact, but they have not yet managed to halt the global success of China's auto industry. However, exports are shifting geographically, with more Chinese vehicles being sent to non-European countries.
 In the first eight months of this year, Brazil overtook Belgium for the first time as a major importer of Chinese cars. The South American country now ranks fourth on the list of China's top car importers, with over 190,000 imported vehicles. Belgium, with just over 180,000 cars imported from China between January and August 2024, has been pushed down to fifth place, according to statistics released by Cui Dongshu, the director of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

China's export markets in South and Central America

This trend partly reflects the impact of EU punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars, as these are a rapidly growing part of China's car exports. Belgium, with its large seaports in Antwerp and Zeebrugge, is an important gateway for the Chinese car industry into Europe. While the growth of Chinese imports here is now slowing slightly, other world regions are gaining in importance.
 Brazil is not the only country with rapidly growing imports from China. Mexico is also importing more and more vehicles from the People's Republic. In the first eight months of this year, more than 320,000 units were imported, making Mexico the second-largest national import market for Chinese cars and trucks.
 Similar to Belgium for Europe, Mexico plays a role as a regional hub for China's auto industry, serving other markets in Central and South America. At the same time, Chinese manufacturers are relocating parts of their production to Mexico.

Russia most important single market for China

Russia's new importance for the exports of the Chinese automotive industry remains unchanged compared to last year. With 700,000 vehicles imported from China, it leads the list of customer countries by a clear margin. More than half of all imported vehicles in Russia now come from China, since European manufacturers withdrew from this market due to the war in Ukraine.

Successes in the Middle East

China had overtaken Japan in 2023 to become the world's largest car exporter. It had already overtaken Germany. These comparisons refer to the number of units exported—in terms of the value of cars sold, Germany is still in the lead.

Back to the figures for exported vehicles. Another region in which China's automotive industry has seen strong growth this year is the Middle East. The electrification of the vehicle fleet there has recently accelerated sharply, and Chinese electric and hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular with car buyers. 

Advantage through low prices

This new popularity is due to the fact that they offer buyers very good value for money, emphasize spokesmen of Chinese automobile associations. Chinese NEVs can be manufactured on average for 35 percent less than comparable vehicles in Europe or in other leading car-producing nations. The main reasons for this are the complete supply chains, the possibility of scaling production in the Chinese domestic market and the relatively low energy prices in China.
 While Europe and the US are now trying to seal off their automotive markets from Chinese competition in e-mobility, Chinese carmakers are intensifying their efforts in other export markets, capturing market share that previously belonged to Europeans, Americans, or Japanese and Koreans.

China's auto exports are on the rise

Looking at the current export figures purely from the perspective of electric and hybrid cars (referred to collectively in China as “new energy vehicles” or NEVs), the protective tariffs in the US and EU have so far had only a negligible impact on the rise of Chinese NEV exports.
 From January to August this year, around 1.4 million of the vehicles exported by China were NEVs. This was 27 percent more than in the same period a year ago. Overall, China exported around 4.1 million vehicles from January to August, 39 percent more than in the same period last year.
 Looking at passenger cars as a separate segment, the Chinese automotive industry's triumph abroad also continues unabated. “The number of cars made in China that are shipped overseas continues to grow rapidly despite the recent trade setbacks in the U.S. and the EU,” writes the Chinese business magazine Caixin.

The most successful manufacturers in the export business

Sorted by brand, the private Chinese carmaker Chery is the leading Chinese exporter. The company was able to increase its exports in the first half of this year by 35 percent to 530,000 cars. This allowed Chery to displace the state-owned carmaker SAIC, which had long been the frontrunner, to second place.
 Other major exporters include BYD, Changan Automobile and Great Wall Motor, as well as Tesla, which produces in Shanghai for export. Tesla is the only non-Chinese manufacturer among the top ten car exporters in China.

*Henrik Bork, longtime China correspondent for German 'Süddeutsche Zeitung' and 'Frankfurter Rundschau', is the Managing Director at Asia Waypoint, a consulting agency specializing in China based in Beijing.