China exported 8.32 million vehicles last year. Now it wants them sold at stable prices

China’s commerce and industry ministries and its market regulator have issued joint guidelines telling automakers to price overseas on costs and market demand, set clear price tiers and avoid frequent steep changes. The EU has spent two years trying to replace its countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles with a negotiated minimum import price.

China has told its carmakers to stop competing on price abroad. Three government bodies issued joint guidelines on overseas expansion, Semafor reported.

The wording is unusually specific. Price on costs and market demand, set clear tiers by vehicle configuration, avoid frequent steep changes, and respect the pricing autonomy of local dealers.

The issuers say who this is aimed at. The commerce and industry ministries and the market regulator published it as general guidance, CnEVPost reported.

The volumes behind it explain the anxiety. China exported 8.32 million vehicles in 2025, and 2.77 million new energy passenger cars in the first seven months of this year. Total passenger exports over that period were about 5.18 million.

Europe is the market this is really about. The EU imposed definitive countervailing duties on Chinese battery electric vehicles in October 2024, ranging from 7.8% to 35.3%, on top of the standard 10% import duty.

Brussels has been trying to replace them ever since. The alternative on the table is a minimum import price, agreed as an undertaking rather than imposed as a tariff.

The Commission set out its terms in January. Its guidance document covers the minimum price, sales channels, cross-compensation and future investment in the EU.

Beijing has now issued something that rhymes with it. Cost-based pricing, clear tiers and no disruptive undercutting, decided in Beijing rather than negotiated in Brussels.

The politics inside the EU were never settled either. TNW reported that Germany and Hungary opposed the tariffs when they were adopted.

Both had Chinese investment to weigh. Hungary hosts BYD’s European plant, and German carmakers sell heavily into China.

The market has moved regardless of any of it. Europe’s electric share reached 25% in July as sales jumped 51%.

The guidelines carry no stated penalty. They ask companies to follow host country law and international rules, without saying what happens if they do not. The guidance also covers after-sales service, labour protections and connected vehicle data.

Which is the awkward part for Brussels. A price floor it cannot enforce is not the same as one it negotiated, and BYD is already building inside the tariff wall at its Szeged factory.