In 2024, China’s automobile (including chassis) exports reached 6.407 million units, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%, continuing to rank first in the world, among which electric vehicle exports exceeded 2 million units for the first time.
Now, let’s take a look at the whole process of new energy vehicle export customs clearance.
01 Preparation before application
Before exporting, enterprises need to understand the management requirements of customs, commerce, public security, maritime and other departments, as well as the relevant laws and regulations of the exporting countries or regions on automobile products, to ensure that the exported products meet the mandatory technical requirements in the fields of safety, environmental protection, energy conservation, etc.
If necessary, professional technical institutions can be used to learn more about the automobile technical regulations and product access management system of the trading countries or regions.
New energy vehicles refer to vehicles that use unconventional vehicle fuels (such as electricity, hydrogen fuel, etc.) as a power source.
The main categories include:
Pure electric vehicles (EV): use only batteries as a power source. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV): use both fuel and batteries as a power source. Including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and non-plug-in hybrid electric vehicles Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV): use hydrogen fuel cells as a power source.
Other new energy vehicles: such as hydrogen engine vehicles, vehicles that use compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and ethanol as fuel.
The cars referred to in this article are all vehicles classified under the customs HS four-digit code “8703”, that is, “motor vehicles mainly used for carrying people (except passenger vehicles with more than 10 seats), including travel cars and racing cars.” At present, the vast majority of new energy vehicles exported by my country belong to the “8703” tariff item.
02 Export Declaration
Enterprises shall submit export licenses and customs declaration letters issued by the commerce department in accordance with the relevant requirements of customs regulations (contracts, invoices, packing lists, cargo lists or manifests and other accompanying documents may not be submitted when declaring, and will be submitted if necessary during customs review), and declare to the customs through the China International Trade Single Window.
Automobile exports are subject to the national customs clearance integration model, and enterprises can independently choose the export declaration place and exit port.
According to the “Catalogue of Goods Subject to Export License Administration (2025)”, new pure electric vehicles do not need to apply for export licenses, new hybrid electric vehicles, new fuel cell electric vehicles, and new pure electric trucks need to apply for export licenses, and old new energy export vehicles require application for export licenses in accordance with the “Announcement No. 6 of 2024 of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China, and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China”.
Note: Meaning of common regulatory documents for import and export of electric vehicles 4 Export license 6 Import of old electromechanical products is prohibited A Import inspection and quarantine O Automatic import license (new and old electromechanical products) x Export license (processing trade) y Export license (border small trade)
03 Goods Arrival
When all new energy vehicles have arrived at the customs supervision operation site, the relevant site operators shall submit the arrival report to the customs in electronic data.
After receiving the report, the customs shall handle the cargo inspection or release procedures.
Reminder: China International Trade Single Window will also feedback relevant information, and enterprises need to pay attention to the customs clearance status in a timely manner.
04 Cargo Inspection
Customs will make a comprehensive decision on whether to inspect the goods based on product risks and corporate credit.
For goods that are targeted for inspection, if there are no abnormalities, the customs will release them according to regulatory requirements; after the customs handles the abnormal goods, if they meet the regulatory requirements, the customs will release them.
05 Cargo Release
For goods that are not checked, the customs will release them according to the supervision requirements.
After the customs completes the customs declaration form and releases the goods, the enterprise will go through the goods shipment procedures with the customs electronic or paper release certificate.
After the goods are shipped, the customs will clear the customs declaration forms that meet the requirements.
wenzhangNanjing Customs 12360 Service Hotline”
