On August 31, the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit opened in Tianjin. On the morning of September 1, the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO member states was held, followed by the Tianjin Declaration.
At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech entitled “Bearing in Mind Our Original Aspiration and Mission, Creating a Brighter Future.” In his speech, President Xi noted, “The SCO took the lead in launching cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, which has strengthened the driving force for regional development and prosperity and improved the three-dimensional interconnectivity network. It also took the lead in concluding a long-term treaty of good-neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation, declaring everlasting friendship and never becoming enemies, and fostering close ties and mutual understanding among the peoples of its member states…” “The SCO has grown into the world’s largest regional organization, its international influence and appeal growing day by day.”
The SCO countries include:
① Ten member states (India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus),
② Two observer states (Afghanistan and Mongolia),
③ Fifteen dialogue partner states (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Laos).
On September 1st, Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, outlined the eight major outcomes of the Tianjin Summit. I believe that at least five of them are related to cooperation in the automotive sector.
These are: the first (the formulation of the SCO’s 10-year development strategy); the third (the demonstration of an impartial stance in support of the multilateral trading system); the fifth (the political decision to establish the SCO Development Bank); the sixth (the establishment of six practical cooperation platforms); and the seventh (the formulation of six action plans for high-quality development).
China’s auto exports are growing rapidly, ranking first in the world in new car exports for two consecutive years. This growth is expected to continue in the coming years. Overseas localized production is also accelerating, and China is entering a transition period from product exports to industrial overseas expansion.
In the coming years, it is expected that China’s auto overseas expansion will accelerate its transition from “product exports” to an “industry empowerment” phase driven by the dual engines of “technology + ecosystem.” With the proportion of new energy vehicle exports increasing, China’s auto overseas expansion will enter the 2.0 era.
As the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit approaches, I have been pondering the relationship between this summit and my country’s auto overseas expansion and international cooperation. What new opportunities, new opportunities, and new breakthroughs will it bring to China’s auto overseas expansion? How should companies analyze and assess these issues? I will attempt to answer these questions.
1,Good political and economic relations lay a solid foundation for in-depth cooperation in the automotive sector.
China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries have close political and economic relations. Adhering to the “Shanghai Spirit”, they deepen mutual trust through high-level interactions and pragmatic cooperation. This stable relationship provides a better market environment, policy support and trade and investment facilitation conditions for Chinese automobile exports, becoming an important factor in promoting export growth.
Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, wrote an article in the People’s Daily on August 30 this year, noting, “In April this year, the Central Peripheral Work Conference pointed out that it is necessary to focus on building a community of destiny in the periphery and strive to create a new situation for work in the periphery. The SCO is a priority of China’s peripheral diplomacy and an important part of the overall diplomatic situation.”
The summit approved the “SCO Development Strategy for the Next 10 Years (2026-2035),” establishing the direction of cooperation among SCO countries for 2026-2035. It explicitly advocated “mutually beneficial cooperation and mutual achievement” and emphasized promoting high-quality development through “new-quality productivity + trade and investment + industrial chain cooperation.”
The automotive industry, a key manufacturing sector, will benefit from policy coordination and resource integration within this strategic framework.
The summit also made the political decision to establish the SCO Development Bank, which will effectively promote the development of automotive-related infrastructure in SCO countries. Statements issued at the summit, including “Energy Sustainable Development,” “Green Industry,” and “Digital Economy,” are directly related to the automotive industry’s transition to electrification and intelligent technology. The summit also decided to establish six practical cooperation platforms, which will facilitate enhanced cooperation between China and relevant countries in areas such as the integrated development of automobiles and energy, low-carbon development, digitalization, intelligentization, and talent development.
The summit issued a statement opposing unilateralism and calling for the removal of trade barriers. This will help reduce trade barriers in automotive products and promote mutual trade and investment cooperation.
More specifically, I believe that, first, it contributes to providing a secure and stable trade and investment environment. Mutual trust and cooperation among member states have reduced market risks and strengthened the confidence of Chinese auto companies in developing overseas markets.
Second, it promotes policy support and trade facilitation.
Third, it promotes infrastructure connectivity, providing more convenient logistics channels for Chinese auto exports.
Overall, through strategic alignment, platform building, financial support, and governance upgrades, the SCO Tianjin Summit has provided new opportunities and space for automotive industry cooperation between China and SCO member states across the four pillars of “policy, technology, market, and security.”
In the future, my country and SCO member states will likely deepen full-chain cooperation, from technological innovation to market application, centered around the three key areas of electrification, intelligence, and green development, helping to make automotive a benchmark sector for regional economic integration within the SCO.
2,SCO countries are one of my country’s core overseas markets for auto exports.
The regional market size exceeds 17 million vehicles.
The other 26 SCO countries can radiate to key Chinese automobile export markets such as ASEAN, Central Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. The automobile market in these regions will exceed 17 million vehicles in 2024.
Many countries have a moderate or relatively strong automotive industry foundation. According to customs data, my country will export 2.73 million vehicles to these 26 countries in 2024, accounting for 43% of total automobile exports; the export value will be US$48 billion, accounting for 41%.
Excluding China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization comprises 26 member states, observer states, and dialogue partner states.
According to my statistics, the nine member states excluding China will see approximately 8.91 million vehicles sold in 2024. Among the major countries and regions, India will see 3.63 million vehicles, ASEAN will see 3.14 million, Russia will see 1.83 million, Turkey will see 1.29 million, the five Central Asian countries will see 570,000, and the Middle East will see approximately 2 million.
The 26 countries are located in the following regions:
Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
South Asia: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives
ASEAN: Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos
Middle East: Iran, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Armenia
Eastern Europe: Russia, Belarus
Other: Turkey, Mongolia, Afghanistan
Chinese companies should prioritize studying the policies of various countries.
Various countries have numerous policies related to automobile imports, sales, investment, manufacturing, and use, which directly impact China’s overseas auto exports.
Companies developing strategies and tactics for overseas auto exports targeting SCO countries must thoroughly research the regulations and requirements of these countries regarding Chinese auto trade and investment.
I’ve researched the 26 countries, and found that Belarus, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Maldives have already signed free trade agreements with China. Sri Lanka and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain) are currently negotiating free trade agreements.
The signing of a free trade agreement means that tariffs and non-tariff barriers on auto imports may be lowered, facilitating auto trade and investment and creating better trade and investment conditions for Chinese auto exports.
Furthermore, approximately half of the 26 countries have automotive production capacity, either manufacturing or assembling vehicles. In addition to India, Turkey, Russia, and Iran, several other countries produce over 100,000 vehicles annually. These countries’ policies generally encourage investment and localization, supporting the development of electric vehicles while imposing relatively high tariffs and non-tariff barriers. In contrast, tariff barriers are generally lower in countries without auto production.
For example, since 2024, Russia has implemented a number of measures to encourage Chinese automakers to localize production in Russia, in order to protect its domestic industry.
Central Asian countries have introduced a series of national policies to encourage the development of their automotive industries. For example, Kazakhstan has designated new energy vehicles and charging infrastructure as key development areas. Uzbekistan has strengthened policy support through presidential decrees, issuing two decrees: “Supporting Localized Production of Electric Vehicles” and “Expanding the Construction of Charging Facilities” to support the development of the electric vehicle industry.
Saudi Arabia, driven by its “Vision 2030” plan, has begun vigorously developing its automotive manufacturing industry, particularly in the new energy vehicle sector, increasing foreign cooperation and introducing domestic production projects. The goal is to increase the total output value of the automotive industry to US$30 billion by 2030, with electric vehicles accounting for 30% of sales.
In summary, the author believes that my country’s overseas automobile exports should take the SCO countries and their radiating areas as key target markets and golden tracks, comprehensively consider my country’s political and economic relations with these countries, the size and radiation range of the automobile market, automobile-related policies, etc., and study and formulate targeted entry strategies and development strategies.
