At present, China's automobile industry is accelerating its integration into the global market: from single product trade to ecological sailing of the entire industry chain, the export model continues to upgrade, and the overseas layout continues to deepen. The 2026 government work report mentioned "further expanding high-level opening up to the outside world,""promoting the negotiation and signing of more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements,""guiding the reasonable and orderly cross-border layout of industrial and supply chains," and "improving the overseas comprehensive service system," etc., pointing out the development direction for China manufacturing companies that are in a critical period of global development.

Build institutional guarantees

The scale efficiency of China's automobile exports is stable and improving. Data shows that in the first two months of this year, China's total automobile exports were 1.532 million units, a year-on-year increase of 57.9%. China Automotive Strategy and Policy Research Center believes that expanding exports and exploring overseas markets are inevitable choices for auto companies to become bigger and stronger and build international-class brands.

In 2026, the reform and adjustment of the international political and economic landscape will accelerate, the external market environment will become more complex and changeable, and the international development of China's automobile industry will face new challenges and opportunities. How to effectively respond to these challenges while maintaining the momentum of export growth? China Automotive Strategy and Policy Research Center believes that, first of all, promoting high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" will open up new space for deepening international cooperation in the automobile industry. South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and other countries jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative have great market demand potential and wide cooperation space. In the future, China will continue to build a high-level dialogue mechanism for the automobile industry with key exporting countries, strengthen strategic planning docking, industrial policy communication and Standard rules connect, deepen international cooperation in new energy vehicles, intelligent networking, green and low-carbon fields, etc.

Second, promoting the negotiation and signing of more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements will effectively reduce technical and policy barriers in overseas markets. At the same time, China will actively participate in the formulation and revision of international standards in the fields of new energy vehicles, power batteries and intelligent networking, continue to promote the internationalization of China's automobile standards and international mutual recognition of conformity assessment, and help companies reduce barriers to going to sea and reduce compliance costs.

In addition, improving the construction of supporting service systems for going overseas will provide strong support for the healthy development of automobiles going overseas. Faced with rising tariffs, increased investment reviews, and new barriers such as carbon emissions and data supervision in exporting countries, relevant departments urgently need to build a safe and effective foreign investment management and supporting service system to guide enterprises to carry out overseas deployments in a safe and orderly manner, and adapt to local conditions, jointly build and share industrial chain supply chain systems, comprehensively improve compliance management capabilities, and enhance green and low-carbon development awareness and risk response capabilities.

Diversify and expand the market

The policy blueprint has been drawn up, and enterprises have implemented it more deeply. Since the beginning of this year, China automobile companies have explored the global market through diversified paths, and used practical actions to interpret the profound connotation of going to sea.

Deeply cultivate the high-end market and accelerate the global layout of independent brands. On February 27, BYD's new energy vehicle brand Tengshi held a listing conference in Manila, Philippines, announcing its official entry into the Philippine market. This layout not only marks an important step in the globalization of Tengshi brand in the Southeast Asian market, but also reflects the trend of China automobile companies transforming from simple product export to high-end and localized brand operations. By establishing sales network locally and creating customized brand experience, Tengshi is trying to deeply integrate the technical strength and high-end image of China brand into the daily car scene of overseas consumers, laying a foundation for introducing more models and building a complete brand ecology in the future.

Sports marketing has become a new fulcrum for brands going abroad. On February 11, BYD officially announced that it had reached an in-depth strategic cooperation with Manchester City Football Club and became its official partner. This cooperation with Manchester City Football Club is another upgrade of BYD's sports marketing strategy. Previously, BYD has reached cooperation with many world sports events and strong teams. Through deep binding with world-class sports IP, BYD not only demonstrated the application scenarios of new energy technologies in large-scale events, but also used sports, a global common language, to break down cultural barriers, subtly convey the concept of sustainable development, and create an international image for China. Automobile brands provide an effective path.

New power car companies are deeply cultivating market segments through continuous improvement of services. In January, Xiaopeng Automobile's first service centers in New Zealand-Auckland North Shore Store and Christchurch Store-were officially put into operation, providing local users with one-stop services covering sales, delivery and after-sales. In 2026, Xiaopeng Automobile also plans to further add service outlets in key cities in New Zealand such as Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga, and gradually expand its coverage network. Through the above deployment, Xiaopeng is trying to use the localized service system as a support to allow the technological advantages of China's smart electric vehicles to penetrate into the market through word-of-mouth communication, accumulating a user base for long-term deepening of overseas markets.

Source: International Business Daily

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