China set to be top for car exports

China is on track to become the largest vehicle exporter this year after shipping more than 3.9 million units in the first 10 months of 2023, according to an official with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Wang Xia, head of the council’s automotive sub-council, says China first overtook Japan as the world’s top exporter of cars in the first quarter of this year.

China sent 1.07m vehicles to other countries during that period, while the 3.92m units exported to the end of October this year was up by 59.7 per cent year on year, reports the Xinhua News Agency.

Wang, who spoke at this month’s 21st Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in China, also revealed the per-vehicle export price has increased. 

It came in at CN¥137,000 (about NZ$32,000) in the first three quarters of 2023, up from CN¥85,000 in 2014.

He added the export value of China’s automobile industry chain in 2021 was US$1.56 billion and it had a global share of 0.65 per cent. 

“In the first eight months of this year, this figure neared $122b, accounting for 5.5 per cent of the global total,” Wang noted.