Editor’s Note: Nearly seven in 10 new energy vehicles sold globally are tied to China, driving shifts in industries and trade at home and abroad. This is the first article in a five-part series exploring China’s electric vehicle boom — and the people building, driving, and fixing its future.

SHANGHAI — From his office in Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, Wu Shengcong oversees the sale of Chinese electric vehicles across the Middle East, and beyond.

Wu moved to the city last January, part of a wave of Chinese expat managers helping their country’s rise to become the world’s largest EV exporter. Dubai is “far more exciting,” than his previous work in China, he said.

Chinese companies’ ability to produce high-quality electric cars at low prices has been key to their rapid sales growth overseas, with more than a million vehicles expected to be exported last year, a fivefold increase since 2020.

But Chinese brands’ ability to run dealer networks and provide after-sales service will determine whether they can create a long-term business model that isn’t just about cutting prices. That task falls to the likes of 43-year-old Wu.

After more than a decade working for auto dealers, he swapped his steady job in China to lead a 200-strong team mostly hired in the United Arab Emirates, switching his working language from Chinese to English.

With his salary similar to China, the move wasn’t about money. “For professional managers like me, transitioning from the Chinese market to the global stage presents both a challenge and a valuable opportunity for personal growth,” he added.

Wu quickly learned that what worked in China doesn’t necessarily translate to the Middle East.

For instance, Chinese luxury vehicles are generally equipped with green-tinted glass for privacy reasons, but that doesn’t go down well in Bahrain, where transparent glass is mandatory due to security concerns.

“As a result, we are urgently recalling the cars we’ve already shipped to replace tinted glass with transparent glass,” Wu told Sixth Tone.

In China, businesses use official public holidays as an opportunity to run promotions and boost sales. But in Dubai, state holidays are often religious occasions, making it much harder for local staff to work.

So Wu relies on Chinese expat employees, who make up about a tenth of his team, to take these shifts during holidays.

Most of his Chinese staff, who are mostly aged between 25 and 40 years old and take management roles in the team, are hired from China. “Working overseas can be more challenging than in China, where my work schedules are traditional and regular,” Wu said.

“We expect to leverage the efficiency of the Chinese team while capitalizing on the strong market knowledge and cultural understanding of local employees.”

Beyond Europe

So far, Southeast Asia and Europe have been the biggest markets for China-made EVs.

But the growth of exports of pure EVs to the European Union has slowed markedly since late 2023 when the bloc said it would conduct an investigation into government subsidies for the vehicles, which in October resulted in the imposition of tariffs as high as 35%.

Brazil also imposed increased duties on Chinese-made EVs starting in 2024, leading to a slowdown in imports from China. The U.S. and Canada have imposed 100% tariffs since October, effectively closing off their markets.

But the politics are often different for countries that don’t have a domestic car manufacturing sector to protect. In such regions, governments are more inclined to welcome options to electrify transport at a low cost.

“While China’s electric vehicle industry has made great strides, trade barriers make it difficult for Chinese cars to enter developed markets like Europe and the United States,” said Wu Di, a Kenya-based dealer.

Though still at a low level compared with Europe, China’s EV exports to the Middle East are growing fast, on course to top more than 100,000 this year.

With an economy based on oil production, the UAE may not appear the most fertile ground for electric cars. But officials in Dubai have set EV sales targets, and supported the rollout of thousands of charging stations.

By 2030, electric vehicles are expected to make up 15% of new car and light vehicle sales in the UAE, up from 3% now. Like neighboring Saudi Arabia, Chinese EVs face an import tariff of just 5%.

Chinese brands say their share of the UAE’s auto market is already above 10%.

According to national registration data, MG, owned by Shanghai’s SAIC Motor which makes EVs and internal combustion vehicles, sold nearly 10,000 cars in the UAE in the first three quarters of 2024, ahead of Tesla.

Wu Shengcong’s company Oneroad Group, a Chinese expat-founded conglomerate engaged in bulk trade of basic resources such as oil, petroleum accessories and other energy products, pivoted to EV sales a few years ago and represents brands including Dongfeng, Zeekr, and Geely.

Oneroad’s current bestseller is the Dongfeng Forthing T5, an SUV that has both hybrid and fully electric versions. Retailing at around 110,000 dirhams ($30,000) — about a third less than the local price of Tesla’s entry-level Model 3 — the car appeals to local ride-hailing companies.

The company is on track to sell about 600 of the model last year. Based on feedback from local drivers, Wu said they’ve talked to Dongfeng about making localized improvements.

Wu’s team suggested modifying the cars’ small, round air vents into a flatter, horizontal design. That could lead to better air distribution, and improved cabin airflow — crucial in the desert heat of the Middle East.

“Once these vehicles are actively operating in the local market, they naturally help increase brand recognition and foster greater acceptance among local consumers,” Wu said.

Oneroad also targets the region’s wealthy. It represents luxury brand Hongqi, owned by FAW Group, which makes Rolls Royce-style vehicles including China’s official state car, used for presidential transport.

In October, they invested over 4 million yuan ($550,000) to rent a lawn beneath the Burj Khalifa to showcase Hongqi and other Chinese EV brands.

A key step was getting the seven-seater Hongqi E-HS9 into the Dubai Police’s supercar fleet in 2022. Chinese automaker Zeekr has followed the same strategy in Dubai, getting its premium vehicles into the same fleet.

“Local consumers often perceive a car that is part of a police fleet as a high-quality vehicle,” Wu said. The inclusion was “highly effective in educating the local market,” he added.

Dubai resident Ahmed Ali this year chose an electric SUV from Hongqi as his first electric vehicle purchase.

An auto enthusiast since childhood, Ali was at first hesitant about Chinese EVs, visiting showrooms several times to take Chinese models for test drives and to evaluate their technology, performance, and design.

“I finally chose a Chinese EV for its safety and sustainability,” he said. “As far as I can see, it’s an ideal car in terms of performance, comfort, and fitting family travel needs.”

Price wars

The rapid rise of Chinese EV exports is partly an outgrowth of the extreme growth and intense competition in China’s domestic market.

Chinese brands moved to EV production en masse after China’s ICE vehicle sales started to decline in 2018. Government subsidies, mostly tax breaks and rebates that lowered the prices of EVs for consumers, pushed the market toward electric vehicles.

Since then, EVs have become the primary growth driver for the industry, expanding at an annual rate of nearly 50%, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

As a result, China is by far the world’s largest EV market. About 60% of the 14 million EVs sold globally last year alone were registered in China.

In 2024, about half of all new cars sold in China were EVs and hybrids, and China’s industry celebrated a major milestone, with annual EV production surpassing 10 million units.

Chinese car brands used to lag behind foreign rivals in technology, but the quick transition to EVs in China has allowed them to leapfrog their competition, driven by cutting-edge battery technologies, advancements in in-car connectivity, and autonomous driving systems.

They have also been able to build EVs at more affordable prices than developed countries.

That’s thanks to economies of scale from the huge domestic market and local supply chain, lower labor and energy costs, government subsidies for investment, and China’s status as the center of global battery production, where companies like CATL are industry leaders.

Swiss bank UBS said in a teardown report from 2023 that China’s top EV maker, BYD, had a 25% cost advantage over American and European carmakers.

China’s government phased out purchase subsidies for EVs at the end of 2022, just as a wave of new companies entered the market: the country is home to dozens of EV brands.

The result was an aggressive price war, with even leading brands like Tesla forced into cuts to stay competitive. The average retail price of an electric car in China came in at around 31,000 euros in the first half of 2023, according to figures published by data firm JATO, compared with the average retail price of over 66,000 euros in Europe and 68,000 euros in the U.S.

Price cuts have continued in 2024. Chinese EV makers claimed for the first time in March that “electric is cheaper than gas,” meaning their EVs are cheaper than combustion engine models with similar features — a milestone achieved earlier than previously predicted.

While that has been great for consumers, it’s not been easy for workers in the sector. Before his move to Dubai, Wu witnessed increasingly intense competition cut into profits.

“It’s become the norm for companies to operate at a loss on car sales, and as a result, the larger the scale, the greater the losses,” he explained. “This kind of business logic, frankly speaking, makes it difficult for professional managers to fulfill their true value.”

By contrast, the Middle East is a “blue ocean market” where traditional business models remain sound, and there is still room for profitability. In recent months, Wu has traveled beyond the Middle East to countries like Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia to explore new markets.

But Wu already sees signs of domestic-style price cuts impacting Dubai’s market. A model priced at 300,000 dirhams ($82,000) could drop to 200,000 dirhams ($54,000) within a couple of months due to the introduction of new models or brands. “High pricing volatility can upset early adopters,” he said.

“The overseas ventures of Chinese automakers often lack collaboration,” which leads to intense competition, said Zhang Xiang, director of the Digital Automotive International Cooperation Research Center, at the World Digital Economy Forum.

Zhang noted that more than a dozen Chinese automakers, from BYD, NIO, XPeng, Chery, Geely, and Hongqi, all quickly entered the European market vying for market shares with lower prices.

“From the consumer’s perspective, having too many brands to choose from can be overwhelming, making it difficult for them to remember the specific names of these brands,” Zhang said.

Service struggles

Emerging markets in Southeast Asia, Central and South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America will gravitate toward the affordable solutions leading Chinese carmakers can offer, says Bill Russo, founder and CEO of advisory firm Automobility Limited.

“The rapid growth in demand for Chinese cars in these regions offers evidence that this is already happening,” he said. An emphasis on driver — and passenger — comfort is one of the factors that makes Chinese cars competitive beyond simply their prices, according to Russo.

Brands are used to catering to Chinese consumers, for whom driving experience is no longer the main purchase criteria; companies also compete on “smart” customizable in-car experiences like entertainment screens, voice controls, and massage seats.

“This provides an opportunity for Chinese brands to reallocate these smart EV configuration capacities to the global markets, where gasoline-powered vehicles with limited digital content are still most common,” said Russo.

Establishing robust supply chains and forming partnerships with local distributors will be critical. The biggest manufacturers such as Chery, Great Wall, and SAIC have taken the lead in investing in overseas distribution.

“This path is similar to what other global automakers like Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, and others have achieved,” said Russo.

In the UAE, Geely, for instance, inked a deal with one of the country’s biggest trading company owners who also works with BMW. BYD partners with Al-Futtaim, which sells the likes of Honda and Nissan.

The companies are also providing consumer financing — BYD’s Han has been sold in the UAE on a three-year plan starting at 2,999 dirhams ($816) per month.

Oneroad’s Wu says Chinese companies can risk overpressuring dealers and need to take a more relaxed approach than in China.

“For new markets, manufacturers should avoid rushing to launch products and pressuring local dealers with sales targets before the market has fully matured,” he said. “This approach could harm both the brand and the broader perception of Chinese brands,” Wu added.

Chinese brands have often focused on launching as many new vehicles as possible while after-sales service has lagged behind, according to Dubai-based Wu. “Many Chinese brands lack local after-sales support, or the service provided is inadequate,” Wu said.

Delays in providing spare parts are a particular issue. “The delivery cycles are often long, and the spare parts are incomplete,” he said.

Oneroad’s plan is to set up local spare parts warehouses and after-sales service centers to support the after-sale demands of Chinese brands that expand globally.

Large Chinese brands are already following that route. Geely opened a Middle East spare parts center in 2023, and has auto repair trained technicians from the region and Africa.

Beyond the Middle East, Chinese EV exports are also taking off in African countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, where government policies support EV adoption.

Nairobi-based dealer Wu said that while low prices are the key factor that attracts consumers, they will need to offer more than just affordability in the long term.

“Foreign brands, many with decades or even centuries of history, have established strong brand loyalty and recognition,” she said. “So Chinese brands still have a long way to go in building their global reputation.”

Additional reporting: Li Miaoran; editor: Tom Hancock.