May China Exports Declined but 'Automobile' and 'Battery' Showed Strong Performance

Although China's exports decreased in May, exports of key industries such as automobiles and power batteries maintained a strong performance.

China Surpasses Japan as World's No.1 Car Exporter in Q1 / Screenshot from Global Times

According to local media including Zhengguan News on the 10th, China's passenger car exports in May reached 302,000 units, a 64% increase compared to the same period last year, and a 1% increase compared to the previous month. Among the exported passenger cars, domestic Chinese brand vehicles accounted for 246,000 units, representing 81.5%. Exports of new energy vehicles reached 92,000 units, up 135.7% year-on-year and 1.2% month-on-month, accounting for 30.5% of total exported passenger cars. Pure electric vehicles, which maintain a competitive edge in the global market, reached 85,200 units, accounting for 92.6% of new energy vehicle exports.

The cumulative automobile export value from January to May was 266.78 billion yuan (approximately 48.3 trillion KRW), an increase of 124.1% compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter of this year, China exported 1.069 million vehicles, a 58.1% increase year-on-year, surpassing Japan (954,000 units) to become the world's largest automobile exporting country.

China's power battery exports in May reached 11.3 GWh (gigawatt-hours), a 28.4% increase from the previous month. Among the exported batteries, the ternary NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) batteries, mainly used in the West, accounted for 7.6 GWh or 67.2%, while lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries accounted for 3.7 GWh or 32.6%.

The cumulative power battery exports from January to May totaled 45.9 GWh, a 32.7% increase year-on-year, with ternary batteries accounting for 71.4% of the total.

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, China's export value in May was $283.5 billion (approximately 366.7 trillion KRW), a 7.5% decrease compared to the same month last year. This marks the first monthly year-on-year decline in China's exports in three months. After a sharp 14.8% increase in March and an 8.5% growth in April, the growth rate significantly narrowed in April and turned negative in May due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and stricter quarantine controls compared to the same period last year.

Because of this, some skepticism has arisen regarding the Chinese government's goal of achieving around 5% growth this year, the first year of the "With Corona" policy.

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