Chongqing's car industry a bright spot amid US trade turmoil

The US wants its tariffs to squeeze Chinese trade. Yet one sector has so far remained unfazed: car exports from southwestern manufacturing hub Chongqing.

- Aw Cheng Wei

CHONGQING -

Industry players tell The Straits Times that Chongqing's strong transport links to Asia and Europe pave the way for the cars to reach countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, the signature foreign policy initiative of President Xi Jinping.

"The US tariffs are not hurting us because our sales have always been to developing countries and regions," said chief executive Molly Hu of Linghe Automotive, which sells second-hand electric cars and auto parts.

The company started in 2022 with a three-man unit to handle exports to Russia and Central Asia. Its export team now has 30 workers as it expanded sales to Central Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Chongqing is well placed to sell to these markets. To its west, it connects by road and rail to the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang, where trade routes extend towards Central Asia and Europe.

General manager Qi Yue at Sahiyoo, a parallel exporter for Chinese commercial electric vehicles (EVs) in Chongqing, said demand for space on the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway has become so high that goods have been delayed.

Sahiyoo then began targeting markets in South-east Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, which can be served by other routes such as the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor that links Chongqing to countries including Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

"These new markets bear promising growth," Mr Qi said, noting how Chinese cars are increasingly popular in South-east Asia.

Although far from the coast, Chongqing is home to China's deepest inland port, traversed by the Yangtze, the longest river in Eurasia.

Cars from Chongqing can be shipped via the river to eastern ports such as Shanghai or southern ports like those in Guangxi, before heading to South-east Asia or distant markets in Latin America and Africa.