China Dreaming of Becoming a Car Powerhouse... Excited as Exports Surpass 2 Million Units for the First Time

China Sold 3.12 Million Electric Vehicles Last Year... CATL and Others Showcase Domestic Battery Technology
Concerns Over Global Electric Vehicle Industry Chain Restructuring Centered on China

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Last year, China's automobile exports surpassed 2 million units for the first time in history. Given that China has mainly produced domestic vehicles by receiving technology transfers from well-known overseas automakers, the entire country is encouraged by the breakthrough of 2 million units in exports.

Photo by Global Times Capture

Despite the shortage of automotive chips and the COVID-19 situation, last year's production and sales recorded 26.08 million and 26.27 million units respectively, maintaining the world's number one automobile market for 13 consecutive years.

On the 13th, Chinese state media such as People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency cited the announcement from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, stating that last year's automobile exports doubled from the previous year to 2.016 million units. By category, passenger cars and commercial vehicles accounted for 1.614 million and 402,000 units respectively.

Xinhua News Agency evaluated that China's automobile exports have hovered around 1 million units over the past decade, and the Chinese automobile industry is taking a new leap forward. It added that new energy vehicles such as electric cars led the exports with 310,000 units, and domestic brands accounted for 44% of the total export volume.

People's Daily elaborated that the 310,000 new energy vehicles exported last year tripled compared to the previous year and were mainly exported to Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Norway.

Sales of new energy vehicles within China are also increasing explosively. Last year, new energy vehicle sales totaled 3.52 million units. The sales target for electric vehicles in China last year was 2 million units. The initial target was exceeded by 1.52 million units. There are even forecasts that sales of new energy vehicles in China will exceed 7 million units this year.

Some in China express concerns that as the Chinese electric vehicle market grows explosively, the global electric vehicle industry chain could be reorganized around China.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency Capture

Xinhua News Agency claimed that the average driving range of Chinese electric vehicles increased from 253 km in 2016 to over 400 km last year, and that the technological capabilities of Chinese battery manufacturers such as CATL and BYD have greatly improved, with these companies supplying 70% of the global battery market.

Fu Bingfeng, Vice Chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said, "Last year, China's new energy vehicle market share (relative to new car sales) reached 13.4%, up 8 percentage points from the previous year," and expressed confidence that "the government's goals of 20% and 40% new energy vehicle penetration rates by 2025 and 2030 will be achieved earlier than planned."

China also revealed ambitions regarding hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which are currently possessed only by South Korea, the United States, and some European countries. Xinhua News Agency reported that China operated 600 hydrogen fuel cell buses on a trial basis during the '2022 Beijing Winter Olympics' and forecasted that the number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in China will reach 100,000 by 2025.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China expects the shortage of semiconductor chips for automobiles to be resolved starting from the second half of this year.

Wang Weiming, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, stated, "Since 2020, automakers worldwide have faced difficulties due to chip shortages," and added, "Various policies are being prepared to ensure smooth chip supply." Director Wang further said that a chip standard system has been established and unfair practices such as hoarding have been thoroughly investigated to prevent price surges, and that the shortage of chips, a core component, will gradually be resolved from the second half of this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.