Shandong implements twelve measures to provide full-chain support for the automotive industry's overseas expansion

On April 2, the provincewide auto overseas development high-quality promotion conference themed “Ten Thousand Enterprises Go Global—Shandong Trade Globally” was held in Jinan. It focused on enhancing the international competitiveness of Shandong’s auto industry and building a coordinated development platform for car exports.

According to industry data, automobiles have become the core engine driving Shandong’s foreign trade to maintain growth. In 2025, Shandong’s auto output reached 2.6122 million units, ranking 4th nationwide. The province’s total import and export scale was 3.53 trillion yuan, ranking 5th nationwide. The growth rate of automobile exports was 18.4 percentage points higher than the province’s foreign trade average. The export scale of commercial vehicles accounted for more than one-fifth of the country’s total. Auto exports grew by 22.4% for the full year, with the export growth contribution rate at 15.3%. Exports of mechanical and electrical products for the first time exceeded 1 trillion yuan. In the first two months of 2026, Shandong’s auto export value reached 14.4 billion yuan, up 98.8% year over year. Among them, passenger vehicles grew by 122.2% and commercial vehicles grew by 92.8%. Combined exports of automobiles and auto parts and accessories accounted for 11.1% of the province’s total foreign-trade export value, directly boosting the province’s export growth by 2.5 percentage points. The momentum of industrial export expansion continued to be released.

At the meeting, Wang Lei, Director of the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province, announced on site 12 key measures for 2026 to help auto companies expand into overseas markets, increase orders, and improve quality and efficiency. The measures cover the entire chain, including industrial scale, coordinated overseas development, platform building, market expansion, after-sales networks, secondhand-vehicle exports, logistics support, export tax rebates, financial insurance, customs clearance facilitation, enterprise-related services, and risk prevention.

Specifically, the 12 measures include: first, growing the scale of Shandong-made auto exports. Encourage companies to develop and adapt vehicle models for overseas markets, and provide rewards for new energy complete-vehicle new models. Second, encourage auto trading enterprises to go overseas as a group. Support leading enterprises to drive overseas expansion by clusters of small and mid-sized supporting suppliers, and promote upgrading the “complete vehicle + CKD/SKD component assembly + localized operations” model. Third, build an auto overseas development alliance and create a comprehensive service platform integrating government-business coordination and the integration of production, transportation, sales, and financing. Fourth, carry out overseas market development. Support companies in participating in international exhibitions and provide fee subsidies. Fifth, jointly build and share an international marketing and after-sales service network. Integrate resources such as overseas warehouses and repair centers to solve cross-border after-sales difficulties. Sixth, enhance the export capacity of secondhand vehicles. Build one-stop service bases and provide a subsidy of up to 150 yuan per vehicle for inspection fees. Seventh, strengthen logistics support. Promote “factory-to-port direct access,” optimize roll-on/roll-off vessel routes, and improve multimodal transport. Eighth, optimize export tax rebates. For class-one and class-two enterprises, compress normal tax rebate processing to within 3 working days. Ninth, increase financial insurance support. Provide supply-chain finance and coverage for credit insurance for inventory-holding periods. Tenth, improve customs clearance facilitation. Support companies in obtaining AEO certification and optimize the inspection and testing mode for power batteries. Eleventh, build a “three-ones” enterprise-related service system of “one platform, one mechanism, and one special task force.” Twelfth, strengthen risk prevention. Study overseas market-access policies to respond to technical trade barriers and trade investigations.

At the same time, the conference also released the 《Shandong Auto Overseas Development Alliance Initiative》 to promote Shandong’s auto industry from “solo competition” to “going global as a fleet.” The public service platform of the auto overseas development alliance was officially launched to achieve one-stop matching of resources such as vehicle sources and cargo capacity, finance, and credit insurance for export. Jinan Customs and Shandong Port Logistics Group also released supporting measures. Jinan Customs, together with Qingdao Customs, introduced 10 customs clearance facilitation measures, implemented reservation-based customs clearance 24/7, promoted “land-sea coordination with sea-to-rail direct transportation,” and piloted a power battery inspection and testing model of “inspection and verification + letter of compliance assurance.” Shandong Port arranged overseas after-sales shared service outlets. Relying on global port resources, it built a service network covering major export markets and continued to optimize port clearance conditions.

In the precise matchmaking segment, cities including Jinan, Qingdao, Zibo, and Weifang held one-on-one talks with leading auto companies such as BYD, FAW Jiefang, Chery, Geely, and BAIC Foton. Domestic supply-chain service enterprises set up dedicated matchmaking zones and provided precise services around financing, logistics, customs clearance, exhibitions, and more, resulting in multiple cooperation intention agreements on site.

This promotion conference, together with the 12 measures, is a systematic deployment by Shandong to integrate industrial, logistics, financial, and customs clearance resources. Through alliance-based organization, platform-based implementation, and end-to-end services, it addresses challenges faced by enterprises in going overseas—such as channels, logistics, funding, after-sales service, risks, and other areas—while promoting the shift of auto exports from scattered efforts to coordinated development, and from scale to quality.

In the next step, Shandong will continue to ensure the implementation of the 12 measures and to drive results through stronger policy transmission and closed-loop services. This will ensure that enterprises can “understand them, put them to use, and get real benefits.” Shandong will continue to amplify the advantages of the industry and ports, promote the coordinated overseas expansion of complete vehicles and auto parts, and ensure that new energy and traditional vehicle models develop with synchronized efforts. It will help Shandong’s auto industry move steadily toward long-term success and sail toward the global market, injecting stronger momentum into high-quality foreign trade development for the whole province.