General

On March 22nd, a land sea new channel train loaded with Celes new energy vehicles departed from Guoyuan Port in Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing. Two days later, the special train arrived at Qinzhou Port in Guangxi, and the vehicles were loaded onto the ship before departing to Europe. This is the first new energy vehicle rail sea intermodal train for the western land sea new channel opened in Chongqing.

In 2022, represented by the "new three types" of electric passenger cars, lithium batteries, and solar cells, China's high-tech, high value-added, and green transformation leading products have become new growth points for exports. Entering 2023, customs data shows that the total export of "new three types" products increased by 66.9% in the first quarter, with a year-on-year increase of over 100 billion yuan, driving up the overall export growth rate by 2 percentage points, further enhancing the driving force compared to last year.

Continuously improving traction power

According to customs data, electric passenger vehicles led the "New Three Samples" in the first quarter, with exports of 64.75 billion yuan, an increase of 122.3%, and the fastest growth rate among the "New Three Samples"; Driven by multiple factors such as strong demand in foreign electric vehicles and energy storage markets, lithium battery exports reached 109.79 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 94.3%; According to customs data, the export of solar cells exceeded 90 billion yuan, an increase of 23.6%.

At a recent press conference held by the General Administration of Customs, spokesperson Lv Daliang introduced the main characteristics of the "new three types" of exports, stating that their driving force for overall export growth continues to improve. According to customs data, the "new three types" in 2022 drove an overall growth of 1.7 percentage points in China's exports. Since the beginning of this year, the driving force has further increased, with exports driving an overall growth of 2 percentage points in the first quarter; Rapid growth in exports to major trading partners. In the first quarter, China's "new three samples" had export records to more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. Customs data shows that exports to the EU, the United States, ASEAN, South Korea, and the UK markets increased by 88.7%, 88.1%, 103.5%, 121.7%, and 118.2%, respectively, accounting for 71.6% of the total export value of the "new three samples".

Gao Shiwang, spokesperson for the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, told reporters that the "new three types" have become a new growth point for China's exports. The 'New Three Kinds' are all mechanical and electrical products, and exports have maintained a high growth rate, not only due to market opportunities brought about by industrial changes, but also based on China's complete industrial chain and supply capacity, as well as the promoting effect of forward-looking and phased progressive policies

Under the global trend of green and low-carbon, the 'new three types' exports will continue to maintain a relatively high growth rate in the future, and the driving force for overall export growth will also be relatively persistent. "Kaoshiwang further analyzed from both supply and demand sides, and on the demand side, these emerging industries have great market potential. On the whole, the market penetration rate of these emerging industries in countries around the world is relatively low. For example, new energy vehicles can reach 50% or more in some European countries, and in most countries it is between 10% and 20%. From the perspective of industrial development, they are still in a rapid growth stage.

On the supply side, these emerging industries in China have outstanding advantages in production capacity scale, accelerated technological iteration, and are at a synchronous or even leading level internationally. For example, the export of lithium batteries ranks first in the world and far surpasses the second place, making China's cost advantage very prominent in emerging industries. In addition, the domestic application market is relatively large, which also has a significant promoting effect on improving the global competitiveness of these industries.

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, stated in an interview with reporters that the sustained rapid growth of the "new three types" of exports is not only due to China's strong performance on the supply side, but also due to the increasing demand for new energy, green transformation, and high-tech products in major international markets. In addition, the rapid recovery and strengthening of trust between supply and demand have also led to more recognition of Chinese products in the international market.

Focus on sustainable development

As a new driving force for growth, the 'New Three Kinds' products reflect the effective improvement of China's export quality and reasonable growth in quantity, and have also made China's positive contribution to the global green and low-carbon transformation, "said Lv Daliang.

Zhou Mi said that the added value brought by the "New Three Kinds" related export industries is relatively higher, which also conforms to the needs of the new economic development mode. The rapid growth of product exports reflects the development trend of China's related industries accelerating transformation and upgrading.

When it comes to future development, three suggestions are carefully proposed: firstly, export enterprises should not blindly expand production capacity due to the rapid growth of product exports, but should closely monitor changes in international market demand. At the same time, production capacity should be reasonably arranged based on the product lifecycle and policy changes in various countries to avoid unnecessary trade friction and losses to enterprise development, and provide more effective support for the sustainable development of the industry. Secondly, we hope that enterprises can pay more attention to the integration and coordination of upstream and downstream supply chains, reduce the risk of market fluctuations, and also provide better experiences for export destination partners. Thirdly, the export of goods can be combined with related services, including providing export plus service package solutions, driving related service trade business, etc., to form a more effective and friendly development environment, and even promote the improvement of local related ecosystems.

Gaoshiwang also reminds companies to pay attention to identifying risks while seizing development opportunities in different markets. Some countries have introduced stricter new regulations for these emerging industries, bringing many uncertainties to international trade and investment in related industries through laws in areas such as supply chain traceability, carbon footprint, ESG information disclosure, and even national security. Therefore, enterprises should pay attention to changes in the international market, assess risks, and plan in advance for the international layout of production capacity. In addition, a joint mechanism for key industries should be established to provide timely warning and response to the international policy environment.