Number of vehicles exported from China 2010-2023, by type

In 2023, China exported around 770,000 commercial vehicles and 4.14 million passenger vehicles. This represented a 156 percent increase in exports of passenger cars and a 91.5 percent increase in exports of commercial vehicles compared to 2021.

Automobile manufacturing industry in China

Since a few years back, China has been the world’s largest car producing country. More than 32 percent of the global passenger car production was manufactured in China in 2023, exceeding the overall share of the European Union. First and foremost, car production in China is set to satisfy domestic car demand as only about 7.5 percent of passenger cars manufactured in China were destined for export markets in 2021.

Chinese car exports

In other national car markets, Chinese car brands enjoy a significant cost advantage over imported cars from international automobile manufacturers. Thus, other developing countries and emerging markets were the main export destinations for Chinese vehicle exports as of 2021. Although exports of Chinese car brands have increased rapidly over the past decade, it is still a long way for China to become a car export powerhouse. Vehicles made in China have not posed a threat to Japanese or European auto makers internationally since Chinese exports are more concentrated in low-end market segments.