China sees growth in export of second-hand cars

China has seen growth in the export of second-hand cars so far this year, thanks to the government's rollout of vehicle trade-in programs which also significantly boosted car consumption in the country, according to industry insiders.

Since the beginning of this year, the second-hand car market in China has picked up significantly, with the transaction volume achieving double growth both year-on-year and month-on-month. It was reported that in addition to the resale of a majority of used cars at the domestic market, some of the replaced used cars are going on the international market.

According to the latest official data released by China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) , China's used car exports reached 270,000 units in the whole of 2023, and the country's used car exports are expected to hit the 400,000-unit mark in 2024.

China officially kicked off the exports of second-hand cars in May 2019, with Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangdong among the first batch of ten cities allowed to conduct such trade.

Since then, China's second-hand car exports have experienced fast growth, with the export volume jumping from the initial 3,036 units in 2019 to 69,000 units in 2022.

Customers and purchasers from other parts of the world are now frequent visitors to the biggest second-hand vehicle market in Guangzhou City, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and they have shown particular interest in the country's new energy vehicles. With second-hand vehicle trade-in programs rolled out one after another across China, car dealers say their used vehicle purchase sources have been diversified.

So far, China's used car export has shifted from the operation of pilot projects in designated cities to the lift of all restrictions on used car export, and all regions are seeing rapid growth in used car exports. In the first half of this year, east China's affluent Jiangsu Province exported over 3,500 second-hand cars, with the total export value reaching about 80 million U.S. dollars. Tianjin, a large city in north China, exported about four billion yuan (552.3 million U.S. dollars) worth of second-hand cars in the six-month period, up 2.3 times year over year. In the first three quarters, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China exported 6,251 second-hand vehicles, with the export value surpassing 100 million U.S. dollars.

"The second-hand car market is now a shining point and its export volume is growing year by year. China is exporting second-hand cars to over 160 countries and regions. The second-hand car brands that China are exporting are gradually establishing brand images on international second-hand car markets," said Wang Du, vice president of CADA.

China sees growth in export of second-hand cars

Black-necked crane, a rare species under China's first-class national protection, has been living in harmony with local residents over the past years in their plateau paradise -- southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, thanks to the ecological conservation efforts made by local authorities and the care provided by the locals.

Every autumn, the village of Jianda in Shigatse City welcomes some distinguished guests -- over 1,000 black-necked cranes dressed in their elegant black-and-white "tuxedos".

Jianda is their exclusive "winter palace", where they are looked after by 75-year-old Tenzin. He has born witness to the village’s time-honored proud tradition of harmony with nature.

In this model of "human-crane cohabitation", the cranes stand guard as the farmers till their fields and they dance while the livestock graze on pasture. And in the golden glow of sunset, the village's chimneys puff out smoke to a chorus of crane calls, in celebration of a timeless pact between humans and birds.

Every year, when the wintering season ends and the cranes prepare to leave Jianda, Tenzin is always reluctant to part with his pets.

"They're leaving for Changtang [Plateau] again. I can't help but feel a bit reluctant to see them go," said Tenzin.

The black-necked crane, dubbed the "panda of birds", is the world's only crane species that breeds and lives on plateau. They mainly inhabit swamps, lakes, and floodplains at an altitude of 2,500 to 5,000 meters. In China, black-necked cranes are mainly distributed across the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the Yunnan Guizhou-Plateau.

Their food includes plant leaves, rhizomes and algae. The presence of the black-necked cranes is a sufficient indicator of the sound environment of the plateau wetland ecosystem.

Xizang has always prioritized eco-environmental conservation and kept reminding itself that conserving the ecology of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau is the greatest contribution to the survival and development of the Chinese nation, said a white paper issued by the Chinese government in March.

The region is committed to maintaining harmony between humanity and nature in modernization. It also strives to continuously improve eco-environmental governance and protect biodiversity on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, according to the white paper.

Xizang has established 47 nature reserves of all kinds, covering 412,200 square kilometers. According to the second survey of terrestrial wild animals, there are 1,072 terrestrial wild vertebrate species and 246 wild animal species under special state protection in Xizang.

Black-necked cranes coexist peacefully with humans in their plateau paradise