China will begin requiring automobile manufacturers to obtain a license to export electric vehicles, thereby strengthening the management of the world’s largest market.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the new regulation from the Beijing government will come into effect on January 1, 2026, and aims to ensure the “healthy development” of the electric vehicle industry, thereby preventing production from being dominated by exports.
With this decision, Beijing aligns the electric vehicle sector with other types of vehicles that already require licenses for export.
This stance from the Chinese government comes after an intense price war in the automotive sector, which has pushed some manufacturers to the limit, raising concerns among authorities about the long-term health of the sector.
To halt the price war, Beijing has cracked down on the aggressive discounts that have characterized the sector for years and ordered manufacturers to expedite payments to suppliers.
It is worth noting that the European Commission approved in October 2024 the imposition of tariffs on 100% electric vehicles coming from China, after concluding that Chinese companies benefited from subsidies from the Chinese state for the export of electric vehicles to Europe, resulting in an average price difference of 20% between electric cars manufactured in China and their counterparts manufactured in the European Union.
