(Yicai) Jan. 21 -- China’s exports of pre-owned cars are surging, especially to Central Asia, with Khorgos Gateway, the world’s biggest dry port that links the country’s northwest and Kazakhstan, becoming a major channel.

The Khorgos Gateway exported 400,300 vehicles last year, of which 239,000 or 60 percent were commercial vehicles, Fu Lei, deputy director of the Port Administration Bureau of the Khorgos Economic Development Zone in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, told Yicai.

Combined with exports by railroad, the port’s outbound commercial vehicle shipments topped 400,000, an increase of more than 100,000 on the previous year, Fu noted, adding that most of them were used vehicles.

“I’ve witnessed the rise of Chinese commercial vehicle exports,” said Xu Henghuan, general manager at Xinjiang International Land Port. “Khorgos used to mainly handle exports of general merchandise and engineering parts, and some used cars from Japan and Korea were shipped here on their way to Central Asia and Russia.”

“But since 2022, some Chinese automakers have been expanding into Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan,” Xu said. “So the 4S stores of domestic car brands, overseas traders, and foreign businessmen have flocked to Khorgos.”

The rapid development of the used car export business is closely related to the continuous optimization of government policies and local innovative measures. Since the nationwide expansion of the second-hand car export business last March, the commerce ministry, along with local governments and other departments, has been improving the regulatory system.

While managing risks, they have streamlined vehicle transfer registrations, licensing applications, and other export processes. Local governments have taken various steps to support enterprises and enhance their international competitiveness.

China’s used car exports still have huge potential. Other large auto markets are far ahead. Last year, Japan exported more than one million pre-owned cars, while the United States and South Korea shipped out about 900,000 and 500,000, respectively.

The commerce ministry is expected to promote the sound and sustainable innovation and development of second-hand car exports, provide more high-quality products and services to overseas clients, and give new impetus to boost the domestic and international circulation of used vehicles.

The vehicle exports of Global-Ucar Technology, the largest Chinese firm in the used car business, jumped nearly 67 percent last year. Its second-hand car exports soared over three-fold to reach a new record. The main reason for the increase was the implementation of a proactive overseas expansion strategy, Chairman Gan Honglin told Yicai.

Between 2021 and 2024, Global-Ucar set up overseas branches in Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan, targeting East Africa, Middle East, and Central Asian, and opened showrooms in the UAE and Ethiopia to cooperate with local service providers and better meet after-sales service needs.

Editor: Futura Costaglione