At the Auto Industry Going-Global Model Innovation Conference on November 1, Sun Xiaohong, former secretary-general of the Automobile Sub-Council of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, said China completed a scale leap in auto exports during the 14th Five-Year Plan and will shift to a "Going-Global 2.0" stage in the 15th Five-Year period, with a core goal summarized as "stand firm, return home."
Sun noted that during the 14th Five-Year period China's auto exports grew from 1 million to 7.89 million units in 2025 (excluding low-speed EVs), with NEVs exceeding 35% of total exports. In the first nine months of 2026, exports continued to grow, reaching 8.63 million units, up more than 50% year on year, with NEV passenger-car exports approaching 4 million. He predicted full-year vehicle exports could break 10 million units.
"Stand firm" means holding onto already-developed overseas markets rather than gaining then losing them; "return home" means overseas operating returns flow back domestically to form a closed loop with R&D investment. Sun warned that pure price wars lack long-term competitiveness and that the focus must shift to full-lifecycle total-cost-of-ownership management amid rising global trade-policy uncertainty.
Source: gasgoo / China Chamber of Commerce for Machinery and Electronic Products
