On November 14, the Chinese government released a new policy, the main content of which is to strictly regulate the export of new cars under the name of "used cars" Is this policy meant to ban the export of new cars from China?! What exactly does it say? Why was this policy introduced? And what specific impact will it have on overseas customers importing new cars? Let me explain in detail below.
Original policy link: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/art/2025/art_32a65aa9aaaf4ff8a40bdd3f755a2da4.html
After this policy was released, many overseas car dealers asked me: “Why is the Chinese government banning the export of new cars?”Here’s the key point to understand: new cars that are not imported through officially authorized manufacturer channels are exported under the name of “used cars” and generally come with no after-sales warranty. These new cars are first registered in China by Chinese exporters, then exported as “used cars.” In the industry, this practice is called “parallel export.”“Parallel export” cars are much cheaper than vehicles purchased through official manufacturer-authorized channels. Why? Because the official channels involve many additional costs: brand marketing, certification, manufacturer operating costs, the cost of building authorized dealerships, staffing, and dealer profits, etc.What the Chinese government is now banning is this portion of “parallel export” new cars.The reason is that the “parallel export” model prevents the official authorized dealer network from making money and fails to provide warranty service to end consumers, which in the long run damages the brand image.
The new policy stipulates that new cars exported via parallel export within 180 days of registration must have official after-sales authorization from the manufacturer in order to obtain an export license. This essentially blocks the vast majority of parallel export sales.Moreover, export licenses are not valid across calendar years. This means that even if you obtain an export license on December 28, 2025, if the car is not shipped out of China by December 31, the license becomes invalid. To apply for a new license, the vehicle must have been registered in China for a full 180 days (counted from the initial registration date) before a new export license can be issued.Based on this policy, it is expected that from now until the end of November 2025, some overseas customers will rush to buy new cars that can still be exported under the old rules. These vehicles must leave China before December 31, 2025.It’s possible that a small number of Chinese exporters may register some cars now, hold them for 180 days, and sell them later for profit. However, very few Chinese exporters will actually do this because the risks are extremely high—policy risk, interest rate fluctuations, holding costs, etc.In short, this policy from the Chinese government will definitely cause a sharp decline in the volume of “parallel export” new cars.
As a result of this policy’s implementation, overseas customers will increasingly turn to genuine used cars.For overseas car dealers who are willing to focus on the used car import business long-term, this is actually a great opportunity. The new car import business is highly competitive, with customers constantly comparing prices across suppliers, resulting in very thin profit margins per vehicle.In contrast, the used car market offers a wide variety of choices. As long as you do proper market segmentation and select the right models for your target customers, you can open up many profitable niche markets! For example:Low-mileage ex-demonstration or test-drive cars can partially substitute for new car demand.Retired ride-hailing vehicles from China can provide much more affordable options for Uber/Lyft drivers abroad.
