Allegation of Chinese EV ‘overcapacity’ is pseudo-proposition, running counter to market law: GAC

Allegation of the so-called "overcapacity" relating to China-made electric vehicles (EVs) is a pseudo-proposition, and the narrative is falsified and runs counter to the law of market economy, China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) told a press conference on Tuesday, noting that manufactured green products have contributed to mitigating global climate change. 

GAC cited EVs as an example. The International Energy Agency estimates that, by 2030, worldwide sales of EVs will reach 45 million units, about three times the global EV sales in 2023 and five times China's EV production expected in 2030.  

China doesn't have an "overcapacity" issue when it comes to new-energy products, and the products enriched the global green supply and marked China's contributions to the global response to climate change, the GAC said. 

"Green" has become a distinctive color for the high-quality development of China's foreign trade. Four out of every 10 cars exported from China currently are EVs, seven out of every 10 railroad locomotives are electric locomotives, and nearly 90 percent of the storage batteries exported from the country are lithium-ion batteries, making the green color even brighter, the GAC stated.

In addition to green products, innovation and coordinated regional development also featured the country's high-quality development of foreign trade in the new era.

In 2023, the country's exports of manufactured high-tech products increased by 6 percent year-on-year, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total value of exports.

Independent and innovative brands have enabled Chinese products to gain rising popularity overseas, ranging from horse-faced skirts rooted in traditional culture to multifunctional electronic products. Exports of independently-branded products growing by 9.3 percent in 2023, accounting for 21 percent of overall exports of China, the Chinese Customs noted.

Moreover, coordinated regional development has stabilized the foundation of the country's foreign trade. The eastern coast of the country is the ballast of China's foreign trade, with imports and exports exceeding 30 trillion yuan ($4.13 trillion) for three consecutive years. The central and western regions have effectively undertaken the country's industrial transfer, with the share of foreign trade increasing by nearly 7 percentage points. The import and export of the three northeastern provinces has been expanding too, and the growth rate in 2023 was 1.6 percentage points faster than that of the whole country. 

Major city clusters such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, have become powerhouses for foreign trade, contributing nearly 60 percent of China's foreign trade growth since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in 2012.

China's high-quality development has allowed global trade partners to share in the opportunities of its mega market. 

China's total trade in goods has ranked first in the world for seven consecutive years, while the country has become a major trading partner of more than 150 countries and regions, and the number of foreign trade enterprises has now nearly doubled compared with 2012, according to the GAC.

And, the scale of China's imports has ranked second in the world for many years, growing from 11.49 trillion yuan in 2012 to 17.99 trillion yuan in 2023. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China's cumulative imports have exceeded 150 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 4.2 percent.

In 2023, the sources of China's imports covered more than 200 countries and regions in the world, and imports of agricultural products and electronic and machinery products from the least developed countries jumped exponentially from 2012, the GAC said.

The development of foreign trade is held back to some extent by rising protectionism, and opening up to win development and cooperation for win-win partnership will help advance the global economy. The "small yard high fence" mindset is isolationist in itself, while openness and sharing is the only way to prosperity and development, the GAC said.