Hainan eyes becoming a bridgehead for Chinese new energy vehicle exports

Hainan province is positioning itself as a bridgehead for Chinese new energy vehicle exports, leveraging its free trade port policies and record EV adoption rates, officials and experts said at a Tuesday plenary session during the World New Energy Vehicle Congress 2026.

Hainan Governor Liu Xiaoming said for January through August, penetration reached 66.1 percent, the highest among Chinese provinces, while NEV ownership accounted for 25.7 percent of the vehicle fleet, second nationally.

Hainan was China's first province to target a 2030 ban on fossil fuel vehicle sales. Liu said processing and value-added tax exemptions have expanded to the automotive sector, with specialized vehicle projects landing in the province and modified vehicles exported in batches.

The province outlined a three-part strategy. It will strengthen supply chains by promoting electric heavy-duty trucks at ports and logistics hubs, piloting hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and building tropical-climate testing capacity for export models. It will also expand aftermarket services, including parts distribution, warranty repair networks and bonded remanufacturing of transmissions, engines and batteries. It will build cross-border data capabilities, allowing overseas vehicle data to be processed in Hainan to support research and development.

Industry representatives described Hainan as a natural export springboard. Wang Lang, vice-president of Chery Automobile Co, said right-hand-drive export model testing has begun on public roads in Haikou, with the company the first to participate, and test data has been transmitted to the United Arab Emirates, Southeast Asia and Central Asia through a dedicated cross-border channel, he said.

Tongji University professor Yu Zhuoping proposed a "one network, one data foundation, three-step" approach to achieve island-wide intelligent connected vehicle coverage, citing Hainan's enclosed road network, free trade port policy flexibility and high electrification rate.

During the session, Hainan launched a commercial vehicle battery-swapping ecosystem with 110 stations already built. The province aims to establish four zero-carbon logistics demonstration scenarios and raise commercial NEV penetration above 60 percent by 2027.

An export vehicle testing joint research center also opened, and several agreements were signed covering hydrogen supply chains, automotive data compliance, specialized vehicle manufacturing and export road testing.

Global EV sales rose more than 20 percent year-on-year in 2025, with one in every four new vehicles sold worldwide being an electric vehicle — either battery electric or plug-in hybrid — according to a recent report from Roland Berger. Strong momentum in Europe and Asia-Pacific drove the increase, with EV sales penetration up 7 percentage points year-on-year in each region. Chinese automakers remain a defining force on multiple fronts, driving down vehicle costs, accelerating adoption in new markets and reshaping competitive dynamics across Europe, Southeast Asia and Turkey.