China announces 10 cities/provinces for pre-owned car export pilot program

China’s authority announced on May 5 the first batch of cities/provinces that are allowed to conduct the pilot program of exporting pre-owned cars.

The decision was made at a special meeting co-held by China’s Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security and General Administration of Customs. There were 10 cities/provinces involved in the milestone program, namely, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Taizhou (Zhejiang Province), Jining (Shandong Province), Guangdong Province, Chengdu (Sichuan Province), Xi’an (Shaanxi Province), Qingdao and Xiamen. All of them are important coastal areas that boast great export/import advantages or the pivotal cities along the “Belt and Road” route.

According to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), China’s sales volume of pre-owned cars in 2018 was 13.82 million units, less than half of new car sales (28.08 million units). However, compared to some developed countries, whose annual trading volume of used cars is double the new car sales and export volume accounts for over 10% of new vehicle sales, China still possesses a great potential to see big growth in pre-owned car export volume.

Meanwhile, the announcement said a standard to test the to-be-exported used cars should be formulated and testing reports is ought to be offered by the third-party organization to ensure the quality and safety of the exported vehicles. Besides, pre-owned car exporters need to build a sound after-sale service system for overseas markets.