English Version
At the start of 2026, five central departments including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Taxation Administration have intensively issued new regulations on automobile exports. Focusing on two major foreign trade core categories - used heavy-duty trucks and new semi-trailers - the policies have comprehensively upgraded management in terms of export licensing, compliance inspection, tax rebate procedures, and customs clearance efficiency, guiding the commercial vehicle export industry to develop in a more standardized and high-quality way.
Against the backdrop of the continuous growth of China's commercial vehicle exports in recent years, especially the rising demand for used heavy-duty trucks and new semi-trailers in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America, the introduction of the new policies is regarded as a key measure to standardize the export order and enhance the international competitiveness of domestic products.
For used heavy-duty trucks, the new policies have imposed stricter access and supervision requirements to solve the long-standing problems of irregular product quality and unclear technical standards in the export of used vehicles. According to the regulations, all used heavy-duty trucks applying for export must pass a comprehensive technical inspection, including vehicle safety performance, emission standards, and vehicle age verification. Only those that meet the export target country's emission and safety requirements, and obtain the official inspection certificate issued by a qualified institution, can go through the export licensing procedures.
In addition, the new policies clearly stipulate that enterprises engaged in the export of used heavy-duty trucks must have corresponding qualification certifications, establish a complete vehicle source tracing system, and truthfully declare information such as the vehicle's production date, mileage, maintenance records, and technical status. Customs will strengthen on-site inspection of exported used heavy-duty trucks, and severely crack down on false declarations, shoddy products, and other irregular export behaviors. Industry insiders said that the strict supervision will help eliminate low-quality used vehicles from the export market, improve the reputation of Chinese used heavy-duty trucks in the international market, and lay a solid foundation for long-term export growth.
For new semi-trailers, the focus of the new policies is to stabilize the export tax rebate policy and optimize the customs clearance process, reducing the time and cost of enterprise export. It is clearly stipulated that new semi-trailers that meet the national export standards and complete the formal customs declaration procedures can enjoy the export tax rebate policy at the current 13% tax rate, and the tax rebate application process is simplified, realizing "online declaration, online review and fast refund".
In terms of customs clearance, the customs has opened a "green channel" for new semi-trailer exports, implementing simplified inspection procedures for enterprises with good credit records, shortening the customs clearance time from the original 3-5 working days to 1-2 working days, which greatly improves the export efficiency of enterprises. At the same time, the new policies encourage enterprises to upgrade the technical level of new semi-trailers, focusing on promoting energy-saving, environmental protection and intelligent transformation, so as to better adapt to the increasingly strict environmental protection and safety requirements of the international market.
As of early March 2026, the new policies have been fully implemented in major ports across the country. Data show that in the first two months of this year, the export volume of China's new semi-trailers increased by 18.6% year-on-year, and the export volume of used heavy-duty trucks that passed formal inspection increased by 12.3% year-on-year, while the number of irregular export cases decreased by 40% compared with the same period last year, achieving the dual effects of regulating the market and promoting growth.
Industry experts said that the 2026 commercial vehicle export new policies have achieved a balance between "strict supervision" and "stable support", which not only standardized the export order of used heavy-duty trucks, but also boosted the confidence of enterprises exporting new semi-trailers. In the future, with the continuous implementation of the new policies, China's commercial vehicle exports are expected to maintain steady growth, and gradually move towards high-quality development with better product quality and more standardized export management.
