China to build international platform for Chinese car manufacturers

China will build a high-level international platform featuring openness and exchange for the automobile industry to help Chinese car manufacturers go global and contribute more to the country's vehicle export, analysts said at China Auto Import and Export Forum.

Gao Zhan, president of Genertec International Holdings Co Ltd, said at the forum that the company, together with China Automobile Dealers Association and some other leading carmakers, kick started the platform to provide a whole package of marketing services including country-specific policy interpretation and industry market analysis for Chinese car manufacturers.

The platform will help promote the rapid expansion of automobile trade scale with better quality and higher efficiency, help more Chinese car manufacturers go global, and inject more impetus into the export of Chinese automobiles, he said.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC), China has surpassed Germany to become the world's second-largest car exporter after the exports jumped 54.4 percent year-on-year to 3.11 million vehicles as of last year, closing in on Japan's export volume.

Xiao Zhengsan, secretary-general of China Automobile Dealers Association, said at the forum that Chinese automakers have made notable achievements in going global, laying a solid foundation for their future developments.

Over the past twenty years since China joined WTO, the total trade volume of Chinese automobiles has increased nearly 27 times. The growth rate of vehicle exports has far exceeded the average growth rate of China's trade in goods, he said.

Sustained efforts will be made to improve international automotive logistics and service systems and promote used car export, in a bid to boost the export of Chinese vehicles this year, he added.

"With the rapid development of China's auto industry, especially electric vehicles, now is a good time for the Chinese auto manufacturers to go global," said Gu Chaogang, general manager of China National Vehicles Import & Export Co Ltd, a Beijing-headquartered company specializing in the export and import of automobiles.

"Automobile export is expected to enter an explosive growth period in the next few years. And we are going to grasp this opportunity," said Gu.

Recent data from GAC showed that China exported a total of 682,000 vehicles, up 43.2 percent year-on-year in combined figures for January and February.