Since China put forward the “Belt and Road” initiative, the sales volume of Chinese automobiles in the Belt and Road countries has generally maintained growth. Although there was a 14.8% decline in 2024, the sales volume in the first half of 2025 reached 593.5k units, a year-on-year increase of 51.8%.
In recent years, PVs have accounted for over 90% of Chinese automobile sales in the Belt and Road countries, maintaining a stable share. Meanwhile, the proportion of CVs has dropped from 17% in 2017 to around 4-5% today. In terms of energy types, NEVs have been gradually expanding their share, rising from 2% in 2021 to 34% at present.
The market share of Chinese automobiles in the Belt and Road countries has been continuously increasing, squeezing the market space of American and Japanese automobiles. Since 2017, the market share of American automobiles in the Belt and Road countries has dropped from 12.0% to 8.6%, and that of Japanese automobiles has decreased from 37.4% to 30%. In H1 2025, Chinese automobiles were the only ones to maintain positive sales growth in the Belt and Road countries.
The sales ranking of Chinese automobile brands in the Belt and Road markets in H1 2025 shows that Chery ranked first with 104k units sold (+25.5% YoY). BYD ranked 2nd (+212.2% YoY), while Haval and MG saw YoY declines. In addition, in terms of the proportion of the Belt and Road sales in total overseas sales, Jetour and Geely exceeded 97%, whereas the figure for MG was only 29.2%. Overall, the Belt and Road initiative plays a key role in supporting the overseas expansion of China’s automotive industry.
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