As the global automotive industry undergoes profound transformations, China’s automotive parts trade stands at a new crossroads of development, and the future trends of its global cooperation have attracted widespread attention.
In terms of trade scale, China’s automotive parts industry has become a crucial hub in the global supply chain. In 2024, China’s exports of automotive parts soared to $122 billion, accounting for 18.3% of the global parts trade volume and maintaining the top position globally for five consecutive years. Behind this remarkable achievement lies the combined efforts of China’s complete industrial chain supporting capabilities, rapidly evolving technological innovation system, and increasingly mature international operation teams.
The market structure is also continuously being optimized and upgraded. In the total export volume in 2024, the proportion of new energy – related components increased from 12% in 2020 to 31%. Power batteries, electric drive systems, and intelligent driving components have become the core drivers of growth, contributing a total of 68% to the export increment. Among them, China’s power battery exports reached 182 GWh in 2024, accounting for 63% of the global market share; the export value of electric drive systems increased by 47% year – on – year; and the export volume of in – vehicle sensors (including LiDAR and millimeter – wave radar) exceeded 12 million sets.
In terms of global cooperation models, leading enterprises are no longer limited to simple product exports but are shifting towards multi – dimensional overseas expansion models. In terms of technology licensing, CATL has partnered with Ford to build a factory in Michigan; in joint R & D, SAIC has collaborated with Audi to develop intelligent platforms; in ecological co – construction, BYD has established a full – industry – chain base in Brazil. The rise of cross – border e – commerce channels has also added new vitality to cooperation. In 2024, the transaction volume of automotive parts on platforms such as Alibaba.com and Temu increased by 120%, enabling small, medium, and micro – enterprises to reach overseas long – tail markets.
However, China’s automotive parts trade also faces many challenges in the process of global cooperation. Europe and the United States are accelerating the construction of new energy vehicle technology systems. The EU’s New Battery Regulation requires full coverage of carbon footprint labels for power batteries by 2027, and the SAE standards in the United States have raised the safety level of intelligent driving functions to ASIL – D. Fluctuations in trade policies also have an impact. Global automakers are implementing the “near – shoring” strategy. Volkswagen requires that the procurement proportion in Europe reach 80% by 2026, and General Motors’ localization target for its North American supply chain is 75%.
Looking to the future, China’s automotive parts trade and global cooperation are expected to embrace new development prospects. The export scale is expected to maintain steady growth, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5%, and is expected to exceed $200 billion by 2030. The market structure will undergo further changes, with the proportion of new energy and intelligent connected components exceeding 50%, and the overseas expansion model will gradually shift from product export to technology standard export. In terms of technical standards, by 2028, Chinese enterprises are expected to take the lead in areas such as power batteries (dominating the ISO battery carbon footprint accounting method), vehicle – road coordination (promoting the Chinese C – V2X solution), and fast – charging technology (promoting the ChaoJi charging standard).
Post time: Apr-21-2025