Currently, China's new energy vehicles are accelerating their overseas expansion, with overseas sales reaching a historic high and the globalization strategy making phased progress, yielding fruitful export results. At the same time, issues such as increasing international trade barriers, stringent overseas access certification requirements, difficulties in global supply chain layout, and insufficient localized operation construction are becoming increasingly prominent, posing real challenges to the overseas expansion of new energy vehicles. Therefore, steadily promoting the high-quality overseas expansion of new energy vehicles has become an essential path for China to transition from a major automobile country to a strong automobile country.
China's New Energy Vehicles Make New Breakthroughs Overseas
Firstly, both the export volume and price of new energy vehicles have risen. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to June 2026, China's new energy vehicle exports achieved super-expected growth, with a cumulative export volume of 2.355 million units, a significant year-on-year increase of 1.2 times; in June, 523,000 new energy vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times. The monthly export scale exceeded that of traditional fuel vehicles for the first time, becoming the largest export category of automobiles. Corresponding to the significant growth in export volume, the export structure of China's new energy vehicles is also undergoing profound changes: the past low-price competition strategy of "trading price for quantity" is being reversed, and high-quality Chinese brands that prioritize "quality over price" are gradually gaining favor with international consumers.
According to industry research data, the average export price of new energy vehicles in China has reached $29,800, and has even exceeded $40,000 in the high-end markets of Europe and the US, indicating that China's new energy vehicles are steadily gaining pricing power in the international market. Chinese new energy vehicles are gradually shedding the "cheap goods" label and truly upgrading to products with global competitiveness.
Second, the economic benefits of leading enterprises have improved significantly. According to the 2025 financial data disclosed by the companies, Chery's overseas revenue surpassed the domestic market for the first time, reaching 157.4 billion yuan, accounting for 52.4% of total revenue; BYD's overseas revenue exceeded 310 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 38% of total revenue; Geely's overseas revenue in the first quarter of 2026 increased by 126% year-over-year.
In terms of brand performance, Chery has maintained its position as the top exporter, with cumulative exports of 393,300 vehicles in the first quarter, up 53.9% year-on-year, accounting for 65.4% of its total sales. Geely exported 203,000 vehicles in the first quarter, with a year-on-year growth of 126%, and the proportion of new energy vehicles in its exports continues to rise.
Third, the overseas market landscape continues to expand. From the distribution of export markets, regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are becoming new blue oceans. According to publicly available information, in countries such as Thailand and Brazil, Chinese brands represented by BYD account for more than 70% of the local pure electric vehicle market share, and local taxis and official vehicles have achieved comprehensive "greening". Especially under the backdrop of high oil prices, new energy vehicles are reshaping the global automotive industry landscape with an unstoppable trend. China's new energy vehicles going overseas are no longer just a competition of "quantity", but a profound transformation of growth logic, competitive essence, and market pattern.
Currently, Belgium has become the largest overseas market for Chinese new energy vehicles, meaning Chinese new energy vehicles have successfully entered the market of developed European countries, and are no longer limited to large sales volumes in emerging markets. At the same time, relying on the "Belt and Road" initiative's landing cooperation and trade facilitation arrangements in countries along the route, market demand in Central Asia, Africa, and other regions continues to be released.
New Challenges for China's NEV Exports
Firstly, the technical shortcomings need to be addressed urgently. The battery degradation issue is a common problem faced by the entire industry. Although China's power battery industry is at the global forefront in terms of scale and technological level, issues such as abnormal discharge in winter and long-term parking discharge have yet to be completely resolved. The fast-charging performance and battery lifespan are difficult to balance, and the high cost and insufficient stability of mass-produced solid-state batteries are current technical bottlenecks that need to be broken through.
Secondly, the supply capacity and independent research and development capabilities for high-end automotive-grade chips are relatively weak. Automotive-grade chips have stringent requirements for high-temperature resistance and anti-interference, and domestic products have significant gaps with international advanced levels in terms of yield rate, reliability, and certification cycle, with insufficient production capacity and supply chain stability, making them more prone to supply shortage risks.
Finally, the shortcomings in the development of high-performance chips for autonomous driving are prominent. High-level autonomous driving requires vehicle-mounted computing chips with high computing power and low power consumption, and domestic high-performance chips lag behind international leading products in terms of peak computing power, computing power utilization, and algorithm adaptability. Domestic car companies are generally faced with insufficient supply of computing power, and the standard system for environmental reliability, information security, and other aspects of chips still needs to be further improved.
In addition, issues such as the low integration of vehicle electronic control systems, the insufficient reliability of high-voltage components, and the low domestic production rate of high-precision onboard sensors also need to be continuously addressed in order to further enhance the industry's core competitiveness.
Second, multiple squeezes and escalating trade barriers in the context of international competition. Western industrial powers are accelerating the relocation of their manufacturing industries back to their home countries, while emerging economies are competing to undertake the transfer of the automotive industry, resulting in homogeneous competition between the two sides in the new energy sector, exerting multiple pressures on China's new energy vehicles going abroad and driving the escalation of trade barriers.
Third, the difficulty of building factories overseas is high. Firstly, there is insufficient adaptability to local regulations, climate, and consumer preferences. Different markets have different definitions of "good products," and insufficient localization adaptation can directly affect consumer satisfaction and after-sales experience. For example, Norway is an important market for Chinese electric vehicles in extremely cold regions, and the local harsh environment poses extremely high requirements for the quality and after-sales system of electric vehicles, which is also a core problem faced by Chinese electric vehicle companies when entering Norway. During the warming and snow-melting phase in cold environments, common problems such as charging ports freezing after car washes, making vehicles unable to charge, have become important tests of the after-sales service capabilities of Chinese automakers.
Second, there is the dual complexity of integrating into local societies and navigating geopolitical challenges. Building factories overseas is not merely a commercial endeavor; it is deeply shaped by local politics, environmental requirements, and community engagement. For instance, during the construction of BYD's vehicle plant in Szeged, Hungary, the company faced a comprehensive project review following a change in local government, repeatedly delaying the start of production. At the same time, a host of challenges—labor, environmental compliance, and local supply chain development—have converged, underscoring the decisive role that localized governance and community communication play in overseas projects.
Finally, there is the risk of labor compliance in the context of cross-cultural management. Building factories overseas requires exporting domestic lean management models to local areas, but this often encounters difficulties due to language barriers, cultural differences, and differences in industrial foundations. In particular, the strict labor laws and trade union systems of the host countries have caused Chinese automakers, who are accustomed to the efficient operational pace at home, to frequently encounter obstacles, and even trigger serious compliance crises.
Fourth, China's technical standards urgently need to be aligned with the world. As Chinese new energy vehicles are selling well overseas, technological leadership also needs to keep pace. Although China has already taken the lead in participating in the formulation of international standards for new energy vehicles such as ISO, the right to formulate rules in key core technology fields is still controlled by European and American countries, and China is still in the stage of "following" and "participating".
On one hand, the stringent testing and certification standards imposed by host countries such as the European Union have become a prominent bottleneck and obstacle for Chinese new energy vehicle companies expanding overseas. In particular, a series of EU regulations introduced in recent years have posed severe challenges to Chinese automakers' international expansion from multiple dimensions. For example, under the EU Battery and Waste Battery Regulation, the EU plans to mandate a "battery passport" system for electric vehicle batteries starting in February 2027, requiring disclosure of carbon footprint, chemical composition, and other information, as well as public reporting of the full lifecycle carbon footprint of batteries. Under these requirements, Chinese lithium battery companies not only need to establish factories in Europe, but must also restructure their upstream material supply chains, persuading and assisting domestic material suppliers to build carbon data accounting systems that comply with EU standards—entailing a massive workload and compliance costs. This not only tests automakers' data governance capabilities, but also increases the risk of leakage of core trade secrets.
On the other hand, China's standards framework for high-level safety and energy efficiency remains underdeveloped, which has become a bottleneck constraining the high-quality growth of new energy vehicles. To support the iteration of advanced intelligent driving technologies, Chinese automakers need to build computing infrastructure such as data centers overseas. However, most automakers cannot bear the capital outlay, which typically runs into the hundreds of millions of yuan per facility. This not only weakens their ability to deploy at scale but also limits the deep international expansion of intelligent driving technology.
China's New Energy Vehicle Industry Sees New Trend
Firstly, the "three transformations" on the production end are reshaping China's new energy vehicle industry. The national "13th Five-Year Plan" outline has listed intelligent connected new energy vehicles as a strategic emerging industry, representing a transformation and upgrade of China's manufacturing industry, indicating that the current industrial manufacturing paradigm is shifting towards intelligent manufacturing, green manufacturing, and service-oriented manufacturing.
Firstly, intelligent manufacturing has equipped automobile factories with an intelligent "brain" and "eyes", enabling machines to not only have autonomous operation capabilities but also make optimal decisions based on real-time working conditions. In the automotive manufacturing sector, the intelligent manufacturing model has given manufacturing systems the ability to have in-depth self-perception of information, make wise self-decision-making, and precise self-execution. From 2015 to now, the scale of robot applications in China's automotive industry has grown sevenfold. Intelligent manufacturing has significantly improved production efficiency and product quality: inside Anhui Hefei JAC's S800 super factory, the fully automated welding line monitors 5,714 connection points in real-time, and the coating workshop has reconstructed the painting process through AI technology. The double-color automatic color separation robot controls the color separation line with a precision of less than 0.3 millimeters; at Zhejiang Huzhou Geely Automobile's Changxing production base, nearly 1,000 industrial robots work in an orderly manner on production lines such as stamping, welding, coating, and final assembly, with a production automation rate of 100%, achieving a production rate of one vehicle every minute.
Secondly, in the field of green manufacturing, the application results of greenization in automobile production are significant. Green factories are accelerating their popularity, with continuous deepening of carbon emission management throughout the process, a power battery recycling utilization rate of over 90%, and outstanding effects of lightweighting and energy-saving technologies. This has also driven green collaboration in the supply chain, reducing the energy consumption of automobiles while improving their environmental performance.
Ultimately, service-oriented manufacturing achieved a deep integration of "selling products" and "selling services". Automakers no longer provide single products, but instead offer a suite of services bundled with their products. For example, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, in addition to being equipped with autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit hardware, also come with corresponding music, gaming, and office content ecosystems, driving the transformation of cars from simple transportation tools to multifunctional intelligent carriers that can better meet users' diverse and personalized needs.
Second, the empowerment of lean and intelligent management has driven the enhancement of soft management capabilities. As Chinese products are exported globally, the spread of management models, business concepts, and corporate culture has also accelerated. On the foundation of solidifying hard capabilities, automakers have enhanced their management soft capabilities with lean and intelligent management at the enterprise management end, which has become increasingly prominent. For example, China FAW Group has established the EOA (Enterprise Operation Intelligence) concept, which is fully implemented throughout the company's operational processes, providing a reference for large manufacturing enterprises' digital and intelligent transformation. By leveraging technological innovation, it has activated new development momentum. As of May 2026, China FAW Group has launched 20 digital employees, achieving intelligent processing of 23 key decision-making items. Taking the "001 digital employee" as an example, it serves as a production planning administrator, assigning AI to automatically execute seven business links, including customer ordering, resource confirmation, order scheduling, and delivery feedback. The original business personnel have transformed into data miners, model builders, and business optimizers. From the innovative EOA concept to the practical implementation of OpenMind (enterprise-level intelligent entity), China FAW Group has reconstructed its enterprise operations with artificial intelligence, blazing a unique transformation trail
In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling was selected as a national-level innovation model with its "345" mode of electrified and intelligent quality management system, and was chosen by the Quality Development Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation as an industry benchmark for comprehensively improving quality management through digital means, becoming a classic case of applying digital technology to enhance management quality and efficiency.
Third, the trend of systematic and collaborative overseas expansion has become inevitable. Against the backdrop of promoting the global automotive industry's transition to electrification, the importance of systematic and collaborative overseas expansion will become increasingly prominent. Systematic and collaborative overseas expansion is the inevitable choice for enterprises to achieve global value chain upgrading and release dynamic comparative advantages through deepening division of labor, internalizing transaction costs, and building overseas ecosystems. Firstly, the production capacity and knowledge reserves accumulated by the new energy vehicle industry itself are the foundation for supporting Chinese new energy vehicle companies' overseas expansion.
Secondly, when upstream and downstream enterprises "band together to go overseas", they can form a complete division of labor network in the host country, which can not only amplify scale effects and improve specialized efficiency, but also reduce cross-border transaction costs and optimize the price competitiveness of Chinese brands.
Once again, after Chinese companies invest in and set up factories overseas, they can achieve a transformation from simply exporting production capacity to deeply embedding themselves in local manufacturing and even service industries, integrating into the local ecosystem, and ultimately deeply participating in global industrial division of labor and cooperation, integrating into the global value chain.
Ultimately, its highest form is the export of standards and rules, where Chinese automakers, by promoting their own technological routes, become widely accepted technologies or industry rules in the international market, establishing them as industry benchmarks. This not only enhances the cooperation efficiency of participating entities based on common rules, but also grants leading enterprises the power to define the industry's "game rules," helping them obtain sustained rule-based benefits.
China's New Energy Vehicles Take a Step Forward in Going Global
First, accelerate the realization of high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and focus on breaking through the "bottleneck" weaknesses. To consolidate the advantageous position of core technologies in electrification, the industry should continue to increase its efforts in tackling cutting-edge technologies such as solid-state batteries and high-efficiency electric drive systems, further optimizing the safety and range performance of new energy vehicles. At the same time, in line with the development trends of intelligentization and connectedization, efforts should be made to enhance the autonomous research and development level and large-scale application capabilities of automotive-grade chips and underlying operating systems. Additionally, the industry should actively promote the deep integration of the new energy vehicle industry with artificial intelligence and new materials, with a focus on strengthening resource circular utilization, and comprehensively consolidating the comprehensive competitiveness of the industry chain.
Second, we must forge a path "from product exports to ecological co-construction" for going global. In response to the trade barriers set by European and American countries for Chinese electric vehicle exports, on the one hand, we must proactively adapt to these barrier-like rules. For example, in response to the EU's requirements for carbon footprint disclosure and provision of "battery passports," China must conduct advance research, drive the industry and enterprises to make advance layouts, and develop contingency plans. On the other hand, we must build a coordinated system for industry and ecology. In addition to exporting complete vehicles, we must also drive the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and supply chain to go global in a coordinated manner, jointly creating a new industrial ecology that adapts to the host country. Furthermore, we can leverage export credit insurance, official or private negotiation and coordination mechanisms, and other tools to respond to sudden situations such as overseas anti-dumping and countervailing investigations.
Third, strengthen the mechanism for identifying and defending against cross-border investment risks. Currently, with high global trade barriers and a rise in protectionism, Chinese automakers' overseas expansion is no longer simply a pursuit of profit, nor are they in a passive "contractor" position; instead, they are transitioning into rule-makers who grasp the core of global supply chains. When the host country undergoes significant geopolitical changes, or when local governments or partners breach commercial integrity by unilaterally changing business terms, or when unforeseen circumstances trigger risks, overseas automakers must maintain a clear strategic direction and have the courage to cut losses in a timely manner, enhancing their risk identification capabilities. Even in the face of "market extortion," they must be prepared to suspend negotiations at any time. China's new energy vehicle companies' experience of going overseas has repeatedly proven that cross-border investment is not international charity; cooperation must be based on mutual commercial respect and sovereign equality. Once partners cross the red line of controlling rights, intellectual property rights, and ownership, it is a sober decision in line with modern business logic to cut off loss-making sources and adopt defensive strategies.
Fourth, as Chinese new energy vehicles go global, they must also fully showcase the soft power of Chinese industrial civilization. The process of enterprises going abroad is, in itself, a process of cultural forging, brand enhancement, and cultivation and output of management soft power. As new energy vehicles are sold overseas and popular globally today, how to shape Chinese automobile culture, how to lead Chinese industrial civilization to the world, and how to enable the world to have a broader, deeper, and more accurate understanding of China is a topic worthy of deep consideration. At the same time as products go global, it is necessary to deeply understand the user usage habits and aesthetic preferences of different markets, strengthen cultivation and output in terms of management and branding, and fully demonstrate the soft power of Chinese new energy vehicles.