China Will Ban Gray Export Of Its Cars To Russia
- 19.11.2025, 18:43
Beijing has approved the new rules.
Russians have barely got used to the idea of the rise in the price of foreign cars with engines of 160 hp or more due to the abolition of the preferential recycling fee in December, but a new scourge has arrived. China has been closing loopholes for unofficial shipments of less powerful cars since the new year, writes The Mosow Times.
China's Ministry of Commerce notified on Nov. 14 that it, along with other agencies, had approved new rules for exporting used cars. Their purpose is to "strictly control the export of new cars disguised as used cars."
In such a scheme, a car bought in China is quickly resold for export. They are sent mainly to Russia, where they are sold cheaper than foreign cars officially imported by distributors thanks to savings on duties and guarantees. Thousands of sellers are doing this to help manufacturers meet sales targets, outraged Great Wall Motors chairman Wei Jianjun.
The new rules should put an end to this. From January 1, 2026, vehicles registered in China less than 6 months before the export date will only be allowed to leave the country with written confirmation of warranty maintenance programs in the destination country. The confirmation must bear the stamp of the manufacturer. Without such a document the export license will not be issued.
In addition, the document introduces stricter requirements for the export license - for example, the mandatory indication of the date of manufacture of the car, and also abolishes the postponement of export licenses to the next year. This means that those who will not have time to export a car from the country this year, next year will have to reissue a license for it.
The new rules can block all independent exports of cars from China bypassing official distributors, managers of companies supplying cars to Russia explain. Almost all such cars are now registered to individuals, which allows importing them with a preferential utilization fee - 3.4 thousand rubles for a car up to three years old and 5.2 thousand rubles for an older car. The minimum commercial fee paid by official importers-juridical persons, now exceeds 667 thousand rubles (for cars with engine from 1 to 2 liters).
Independent imports of cars of all ages from China to Russia this year has increased sharply, and imported mainly fresh cars, aged up to five years, and not only Chinese brands, but also international - such as BMW, Toyota, Volkswagen, said the general director of the analytical agency "Autostat" Sergey Tselikov. According to "Avtostat", for 10 months from China was imported 210 thousand new cars (customs considers cars under 3 years old). And about a third of them were imported by individuals. At the beginning of the year their share in imports amounted to about 12%, but then began to grow rapidly and in October reached 50%. Unscrupulous importers have found a loophole in the form of imports for individuals, allowing them to save on taxes and fees, resented the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Since December 1, Russia will close it for high-powered cars. When importing foreign cars with engines of 160 hp or more, individuals will have to pay a commercial recycling fee, which in addition will also increase due to the coefficient on power. As a result, the minimum payment for such a car will exceed 800 thousand rubles.
The Chinese are hitting Russian buyers from the other side. "They appear to be making it impossible to 'cheaply' import cars up to 160 hp," reasoned the owner of a foreign car trading company. According to his estimates, this year mainly powerful cars were imported from China by alternative imports, and cars with engines up to 160 hp up to 5,000 units per month, but after the increase in the scrappage duty, independent importers would immediately switch to small cars.
In China there is a lot to choose from - for example, Volkswagen Jetta and Toyota Corolla are produced there at joint ventures, which, according to "Avtostat", this year are the leaders in the volume of imports by individuals among left-hand drive foreign cars with engines up to 160 hp. If China approves the new export rules, there will be no room for maneuver, says the foreign car dealer: "So Russians will have to go either for Lada or to the Chinese 'official' and overpay them at least about 1 million rubles."
But by November 19, the notice disappeared from the Chinese Ministry of Trade's website - now only its copy, saved by search resources, is open. This may mean that the document has been withdrawn for finalization, argues an employee of the distributor company of a major Chinese automobile concern. He has no doubt that the conditions for exporting cars from China will become tougher in the near future: there is a big scandal around the "zero kilometer", and the Chinese authorities announced their intention to do this in order to support their car companies and their official distributors.