China's new-energy vehicle (NEV) exports continued to surge in May, as the Chinese NEV industry's economy of scale further manifested itself, along with an expanding global footprint of Chinese auto brands, with their international recognition steadily growing, an industry report said on Monday.
NEV exports reached 200,000 units in May, surging 80.9 percent year-on-year, data from a monthly industry analysis released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday. For the January-May period, the increase was 37.1 percent as the total number of exports reached 789,000 units.
The May figure was up 5.8 percent month-on-month.
NEV exports in May accounted for 44.5 percent of all cars exported, up 16.6 percentage points compared with the same period last year, the analysis showed.
May NEV exports were driven by brands including BYD, Chery, Tesla China, SAIC Motor and Geely, according to the report. BYD was the top exporter with 84,068 cars shipped.
US auto brand Tesla exported 23,074 units from its production base in China, the report showed.
"Chinese brands have been diversifying their overseas markets to reduce reliance on just a few markets, and have achieved notable success in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America," Bian Yongzu, the executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Monday.
The CPCA report noted that despite recent external disruptions, exports of domestic plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) to developing countries are growing rapidly with bright prospects. PHEVs made up 32 percent of all NEV exports in May, compared with a reading of 18.5 percent last year.
From January to April, China accounted for 68 percent of the world's NEV sales growth, with a total of 5.97 million units sold in the period, the report said.
With the domestic and overseas markets combined, NEV sales in the first five months of this year reached 4.35 million units, up 34.1 percent, the data showed.
The report was released on the same day as the General Administration of Customs published foreign trade data for the first five months.
In the period, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 9.3 percent year-on-year to 6.4 trillion yuan ($890.19 billion), accounting for 60 percent of the country's total goods exports. EVs were among the leading products, with a rise of 19 percent year-on-year.
The EU remained one of the major destinations for Chinese EV exports.
