Rise of auto manufacturing achievement of opening-up

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China exported 1.91 million automobiles in the first eight months of 2022, 44.5 percent higher than in the same period last year.

More importantly, the volume surpassed that of Germany, making China the second-largest automobile exporter behind Japan. In August alone, China exported 308,000 automobiles, a new high.

China is taking an increasingly bigger share of the global automobile market. In 2002, China exported only 43,100 automobiles, while the world's total was 22.1 million.

There are multiple reasons for that. In the short term, it is the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused a major crisis in the global supply chain, which resulted in a shortage of microchips that in turn caused a downturn in automobile manufacturing in Japan, Europe and the United States. China performed well in bringing the pandemic under control and so Chinese companies have had enormous opportunities in world markets.

In the long term, there is the rise of new-energy vehicles, in which China has emerged as a major player. According to official data, China's new-energy vehicle exports grew from 223,000 in 2020 to 588,000 in 2021, while the number had already risen to 517,000 in the first eight months of the year. At the same time, the average price of automobile exported from China rose from $12,900 in 2018 to $16,400 in early 2022, to $18,900 in August this year.

Behind the two trends is China's continued progress in automobile manufacturing and its complete industry chain. Which in turn has much to do with China's enlarged and constantly deepened opening-up policy. In 2018, China lifted foreign ownership restrictions on new energy vehicles; Foreign ownership restrictions on commercial vehicles was lifted in 2020. From Jan 1, the limits on foreign ventures' shares in Chinese automobile companies were removed, as was the restriction limiting a foreign company to a maximum of two joint ventures in China, according to the latest negative list.

Which means that China's automobile industry is now open to the world, which has attracted quality companies from all over the world to cooperate with domestic companies and export their products to the world. In that process, China benefits, too, as it can sharpen R&D tools and improve the automobile industrial chain of the nation.