When it comes to China cars going to sea, they cannot avoid Horgos in Xinjiang. As the country's largest land port for automobile export, it is not only a gathering place for policies and resources, but also a key node in opening up the entire chain of domestic production, cross-border transportation, and overseas sales. Since 2026, Horgos 'automobile exports have continued to explode. From January to February, 54,000 commercial vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%, setting a record high for the same period in history. Behind this is the triple support of policies, channels and resources, truly realizing the full link connection between upstream and downstream.

Policy setting: from "barbaric growth" to "standardized going to sea"

If automobile exports are to be stable, policies are the fundamental guarantee. Since January 1,2026, a set of interlocking regulatory systems has been implemented in Horgos, completely bidding farewell to the gray operations of the past. Nowadays, the export of pure electric passenger vehicles is subject to compulsory license management. Only the authorized entities of the car company and meet the overseas after-sales and scale thresholds can they obtain licenses; vehicles registered for less than 180 days must submit an "After-sales Maintenance Service Confirmation", otherwise they cannot be issued. The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China has ended the chaos of "new cars being sold as second-hand."

More importantly, the policy clarifies the standards of "sources can be checked, destinations can be traced, responsibilities can be investigated, and after-sales can be guaranteed." Horgos retains only seven authorized export companies, all of which are formal entities that have been screened at various levels, covering authorizations from automobile companies such as BAIC, Dongfeng, and Speifil. This kind of strict control is not "restricting growth", but "screening high-quality players", allowing compliant companies to gain greater room for development and laying the foundation for long-term reputation in overseas markets.

Channel is king: All human and cargo resources are concentrated, and efficiency is full

The core of automobile exports lies in "speed" and "stability". Horgos 'location and channel advantages perfectly meet this demand. As the only all-weather highway port on the China-Kazakhstan border, 24-hour cargo customs clearance is implemented here. Customs clearance services will be extended to June in 2026. Mutual visa exemption between China and Kazakhstan makes drivers cross borders smoother.

In terms of customs clearance efficiency, Horgos completed the transformation from "queuing and waiting" to "customs clearance in seconds". Through the "fast customs clearance mode for self-driving export commodity vehicles", combined with "single window" QR code verification and smart card automatic recognition, the customs clearance time for a single vehicle only takes 30 minutes at the fastest, and the traditional customs clearance process of more than 30 hours is compressed to 5 hours. Within. There are also multiple options for transportation methods: road self-driving costs are low, and core cities in Central Asia can be reached within 7 days; China-Europe freight trains have large capacity, covering Central Asia in 5-10 days and reaching Europe in 20-25 days. There are 1685 trains in the first two months of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%.

In addition, Horgos has also built a 60,000-square-meter complete vehicle export base, integrating full-chain services such as complete vehicle logistics, KD parts logistics, and after-sales spare parts logistics to achieve "one declaration, one inspection, and one release", allowing every vehicle to go out to sea. The journey to sea is traceable and efficient and controllable.

Resource aggregation: connecting upstream and downstream, and coordinating the entire chain

The value of Horgos is not only "fast customs clearance", but also "full resources". It gathers resources from the entire industry chain from production to sales, from logistics to after-sales, and truly connects upstream and downstream.

On the production side, mainstream car companies such as BYD, Nezha, and Dongfeng have been authorized. New energy vehicles are 30%-50% cheaper than local cars in the Central Asian market due to their high cost performance, and have become the main exporter. On the logistics side, China-Europe freight trains, cage cars, and self-driving vehicles form a three-dimensional transportation system. 70% of customers choose to drive abroad by themselves. The cost of a bicycle is only about 1000 yuan, which greatly reduces logistics expenses. On the after-sales side, leading companies have set up service stations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries to solve maintenance problems and dispel the concerns of overseas users.

At the same time, Horgos Comprehensive Insurance Zone supports enterprises to prepare goods in advance and ship in batches through the "1210" bonded stocking model. The tax refund cycle has been reduced from 30 days to 3 working days to relieve financial pressure. The Department of Commerce of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has also been built. A comprehensive service platform for automobile logistics has been built to integrate supplier and customer resources and provide one-stop services. It is expected to achieve a trade volume of 1.2 billion yuan in 2026.

Conclusion: Horgos, the "bridgehead" for China's cars to go to sea

From policy standardization to efficient channels, from resource aggregation to full-chain coordination, Horgos has become a "golden hub" for China's automobile exports. It is not only a "gateway" for vehicles to leave the country, but also a "bridge" connecting domestic production and overseas markets, allowing cars made in China to steadily enter thousands of households in Central Asia and Europe along the Silk Road.

For automobile companies and logistics companies, by seizing the node advantage of Horgos, they can open up upstream and downstream resources and seize the lead in the wave of cars going out to sea. In the future, as supporting facilities continue to improve, this place will continue to become the core position for China's automobiles to go global, writing more new stories of "China cars going out to sea."

Source: New energy at the forefront of the sea

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