China’s Auto Exports Grow Strongly, Major Ports Hit New Highs

Recently, China’s auto export sector has maintained robust growth, with export data from several key ports reaching new highs, fully demonstrating the rising competitiveness of China’s auto industry in the global market.

Key Port Performance

• Ningbo Port: According to Ningbo Customs statistics, in the first three quarters of this year, the port exported 186,000 vehicles with a total value of 18.01 billion yuan, registering a year-on-year increase of 59.2% in volume and 32.6% in value—both hitting record highs for the same period in history. Passenger cars accounted for 95.5% of the port’s total auto export value. New energy vehicles (NEVs) performed exceptionally well, with 43,000 units exported (representing 22.9% of total export volume) and a value of 4.69 billion yuan (26.1% of total export value). Emerging markets have become a key driver of growth: the port’s auto exports to Brazil and Mexico surged 43.1-fold and 10.9-fold year-on-year respectively.
• Taicang Port: As the largest and most professional auto ro-ro terminal along the Yangtze River, Haitong (Taicang) Auto Terminal has quickly become a core hub for China’s domestic auto exports since its opening last year. From January to August this year, the terminal handled about 500 ship loadings, processing over 600,000 vehicles—including more than 400,000 for export. In the same period, Taicang Port exported 513,000 vehicles, up 64.3% year-on-year. This not only exceeded the port’s full-year export volume of last year but also solidified its position as the top auto export port in Jiangsu Province and along the Yangtze River.
• Horgos Port: As China’s largest land port for auto exports, approximately 600 vehicles depart from here daily to Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this year. According to Horgos Customs data, from January to August 2025, the port exported 258,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%, including 102,000 NEVs—up 45.2% year-on-year.

Supportive Measures for Efficient Exports

Governments and port authorities across regions have launched a series of optimized initiatives to facilitate auto exports:

• Ningbo-Zhoushan Port proactively engaged with automakers to customize loading plans for Geely’s “Jisu Rongyao” LNG dual-fuel ro-ro ship’s maiden voyage, coordinated professional resources, and streamlined the entire process of vehicle inspection, parking, and loading.
• Ningbo Customs promoted the concept of “smart supervision + targeted services,” realizing paperless document declaration and automated review/clearance. Combined with multiple preferential policies, it has created a convenient customs clearance environment for auto exports.
• Horgos Customs implemented a 24/7 freight clearance system, optimized review and release procedures, and strengthened international cooperation—reducing the overall exit clearance time from over 40 hours to less than 8 hours.

Growth Drivers & Future Outlook

China’s strong auto export growth is driven by continuous efforts in technological innovation, product quality improvement, and global market layout of the domestic auto industry. In particular, NEVs have gained increasing popularity among global consumers due to their advanced technology and high cost-effectiveness. Looking ahead, as domestic automakers increase R&D investment, expand overseas markets, and ports continue to optimize customs clearance services, China’s auto exports are expected to maintain a sound growth momentum and occupy a more important position in the global auto industry landscape.