China reported a rapid increase in auto trade-ins thanks to policy support designed to benefit consumers.
The Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday it had received over four million subsidy applications for trade-ins of passenger vehicles as of Monday under a mass renewal program initiated early this year.
Currently, people trading in an old car for a new energy vehicle (NEV) are entitled to a 20,000 yuan (2,781 U.S. dollars) subsidy, while those replacing for a fuel car will get 15,000 yuan.
The policy has effectively stimulated the auto market. In October, retail sales of passenger vehicles reached 2.261 million, up 11.3 percent year on year. The growth rate has accelerated by 6.8 percentage points from September.
Notably, sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 1.196 million units in October, a remarkable 56.7 percent increase year on year, with growth accelerating by 5.8 percentage points from September.
NEVs accounted for over half of total passenger vehicle sales. From January to October, retail sales of passenger vehicles approached 18 million, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, while new energy passenger vehicle sales reached 8.327 million, a 39.8 percent increase.
The auto trade-in subsidies are part of a national program unveiled in March aimed at expanding domestic demand and shoring up the economy through equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins.
China sees more auto trade-ins on policy support
Industry-leading experts from multinational enterprises gathered at a summit in Beijing on Sunday to present cutting-edge ideas and insights, exchanging views on new opportunities and challenges existing in investment cooperation.
Themed "Open China and the World," the Global Multinational Corporation Summit -- the 14th International Roundtable of Multinational Corporations' Leaders was held in the Chinese capital on Sunday, attracting nearly 500 leaders from domestic and international multinational corporations.
Feng Xingliang, head of the Beijing office for NRW.Global Business China, a firm specializing in assisting foreign business ventures, highlighted renewable energy as a booming sector for Chinese investment abroad, speaking to China Global Television Network (CGTN).
"Judging from the businesses run overseas in 2023 and 2024, the most popular sectors for Chinese companies is renewable energy, including batteries and electric vehicles. This is the largest sector in which Chinese companies operate abroad. According to the final statistics, among the 54 Chinese companies that invested in North Rhine-Westphalia last year, 42 percent were in renewable energy. This was not the case before. There were more businesses in heavy industries, like the steel industry," said Feng.
"German companies have invested a lot in China, and Germany is the European country that has invested the most in China. Germany's investment in China hit a record high both in 2022 and 2023. Last year, the country's investment in China marked 11.9 billion euros. And in the first half of this year, the figure has already reached 7.6 billion euros, which is another record high. Of course, much of those investments comes from large enterprises, such as BASF's investment in Zhanjiang reaching 10 billion euros, indicating that German companies still have great confidence in the Chinese market," he said.
A growing number of Chinese companies going abroad now are making efforts to localize their business as much as possible, instead of only selling products, according to Li Dong, president of the Rockwell Automation Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Research Institute.
"Many Chinese companies are going abroad, not only selling products overseas but also building factories abroad and integrating into local cultures including life and production. Rockwell Automation is focusing on a one-stop service, and is building its own ecosystem from consulting, construction, planning, to later services, that is, long-term services for enterprises, instead of a one-time service, so as to help enterprises go overseas better and be based locally and let China's production capacity and industrial chains better serve the world," said Li.
Ban Ki-moon, former secretary-general of the UN and chairman of the Boao Forum of Asia, sent a congratulatory letter to the meeting. Zhang Xiangchen, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, delivered a video speech at the event.
Multinational companies discuss opportunities for investment cooperation in Beijing
