According to joint statistics from the General Administration of Customs and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to September 2025, China's cumulative trailer exports reached 386,000 units with an export value exceeding 9.2 billion US dollars, up 12% and 8.3% year-on-year respectively. The growth rate accelerated by 3.2 percentage points compared with the first half of the year, demonstrating strong industrial resilience. Despite policy pressures in the European market such as the upgrading of Euro VII emission standards and higher OTTC certification thresholds in Russia (with export value down 4.1% YoY), BRI member countries have become the main driver of export growth, contributing 62% of the total export increment. Benefiting from the RCEP tariff reduction policy, Southeast Asia saw a surge of 35% in export value YoY, with Vietnam and Indonesia emerging as the fastest-growing segmented markets, where demand for tank trailers and cold chain box trailers is particularly strong.
Technological upgrading has become a key driver for enterprises to break through difficulties. In the first three quarters, the export share of lightweight trailers exceeded 50% for the first time. The wide application of high-strength steel, aluminum alloy and other materials reduced the weight of a single vehicle by 15%-20% and fuel consumption by 8%-12%, meeting the global logistics demand for cost reduction and efficiency improvement. New energy trailers achieved outstanding export growth, with hydrogen fuel and electric trailers' export volume increasing by 180% YoY, mainly used in short-distance transportation scenarios such as overseas ports and industrial parks. The EU's new carbon emission regulations and China's "dual carbon" policy subsidies have jointly promoted their penetration rate to 8.5%. Intelligent configurations have also become a core selling point of export products. The installation rate of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology and intelligent trailer management systems (TMS) exceeded 40%, and the commercial pilot of automatic driving assistance functions in long-distance logistics scenarios has further enhanced the bargaining power of Chinese trailers in the global market.
Enterprises are continuously deepening their global layout. Leading enterprises such as CIMC Vehicles and Luoxiang Automobile have extended their production, sales and after-sales service networks to core markets including Southeast Asia and the Middle East through the construction of overseas KD factories and local mergers and acquisitions, with the localization rate exceeding 30%, effectively avoiding trade barriers. Traditional export powerhouses such as Shandong, Guangdong and Jiangsu contributed 78% of the export value, while the central and western regions achieved a 22% export growth rate, becoming new growth poles of the industry. A relevant person in charge of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing stated that with the restructuring of the global supply chain, the acceleration of infrastructure construction in emerging markets, and the continuous breakthroughs of domestic enterprises in lightweight and new energy technologies, the annual trailer export value is expected to exceed 12 billion US dollars in 2025. BRI markets and high-end products will continue to lead the high-quality development of the industry.
