China’s supercharged new-energy sector is propping up exports, but will it last?
- China’s shipment value of EVs, lithium-ion and solar batteries surged by 54.8 per cent in US dollar terms during the first quarter, year on year
- An intensifying deglobalisation of new-energy supply chains is under way, but analysts say it will not be easy to dethrone China as the dominant market player
For tens of millions of workers in China’s massive export sector, the surprising 14.8 per cent year-on-year growth in shipments in March is nothing but a figure when – as they see it – empty containers have been piling up at ports for months, and small manufacturers have struggled to stay afloat.
But the new-energy industry seems to be an exception. At China’s biggest automotive terminal in northeast Shanghai, thousands of electric cars are loaded onto shipping vessels every day, bound for destinations across the world.
After all, China’s traditional export pillars, including apparel and furniture, are increasingly being relocated to other developing countries, such as Mexico and parts of Southeast Asia.
As most of the world is embracing a green-energy transition to reduce the effects of climate change, Chinese companies have unquestionably become global market leaders in these industries, owing largely to government support and the nation’s vast manufacturing capacity.