EU-China BEV trade

According to the Commission, the share of EVs from China sold in the EU recently jumped from less than 1 % to 8 %. This share could soar to 15 % by 2025. European car association ACEA suggests that the share of BEVs from China in total EU EV sales rose from 0.4 % in 2019 to 3.7 % in 2022. Various sources have stressed that Chinese firms’ EV export numbers remain small (e.g. BYD, Nio, and Xpeng), and that two-thirds of EU imports of EVs from China are from legacy EU and US firms manufacturing in China. Nonetheless, Western carmakers’ share of global EV markets has trended downwards (also because of a chips shortage), while BYD and Geely-Volvo have trended upwards. Moreover, EU-China BEV trade is becoming increasingly asymmetric (Figure 2). This has brought back memories of the EU market being flooded, more than a decade ago, with cheap Chinese solar panels, which continues to put pressure on an EU industry from which China had absorbed the technology. There is a sense of urgency for the EU to pre-empt a similar fate for the EU EV industry.