The Belt and Road Initiative has advanced rapidly, reflected in the growing trade volume and investment with BRI nations year by year. These countries have gained access to high-quality products and infrastructure development. While assisting BRI partners in building infrastructure, China exports its domestic infrastructure development experience and production capacity, establishing continental transportation corridors across Eurasia.
Author: Haonan Chen
Meanwhile, global carbon neutrality goals and the shift toward clean energy in transportation are accelerating. China’s new energy smart vehicle industry has achieved global competitiveness and is now at a critical stage of international expansion. Given the stable political and economic ties between China and BRI countries, coupled with the strong demand for the overseas expansion of China’s new energy smart vehicle industrial chain, companies within the chain may prioritize BRI markets as their primary destinations for global growth.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has achieved multiple milestones in trade cooperation, demonstrating steady and positive momentum
On September 7, 2013, China’s leader delivered a speech titled "Promoting People-to-People Friendship and Jointly Creating a Bright Future" at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, proposing the joint development of the "Silk Road Economic Belt." On October 3, 2013, during an address to the Indonesian Parliament titled "Working Together to Build a China-ASEAN Community of Shared Destiny," the leader further proposed the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road." These two proposals were collectively named the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Under the framework of BRI international cooperation, the initiative adheres to the principles of" extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits," while its core philosophy emphasizes peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and win-win outcomes.
China’s import-export volume with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries has sustained growth, reaching 13.8 trillion yuan in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 8.6% from 2013 to 2022. Since 2023, the term "jointly-building BRI countries" has been widely adopted. By 2024, China’s trade volume with these countries surged to 22.1 trillion yuan.
The China-BRI Trade Index has consistently risen in recent years, with its growth accelerating significantly post-2017. Using 2013 as the base year (index=100), the index climbed to 181.2 by 2023, underscoring the sustained progress of China’s BRI strategy.
The initiative’s four major funding pools have provided critical financial support, enabling infrastructure development in partner countries, facilitating trade, and advancing the internationalization of the RMB.
Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched in 2013, China’s investment cooperation with BRI partner countries has intensified. Chinese enterprises’ non-financial direct investment in these countries surged from USD 14.53 billion in 2016 to USD 20.91 billion in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.3%.
The proportion of China’s non-financial direct investment in BRI countries relative to its total outbound non-financial investment has also risen steadily. In 2016, BRI investments accounted for only 8.5% of China’s total outbound non-financial investment, but by 2022, this share had climbed sharply to nearly 18%.
According to EO Intelligence, China’s increasing investment in BRI countries—and the rising share of BRI-focused investments within its total outbound spending—will significantly deepen its engagement in the region’s future economic growth. This strategy not only supports China’s own development but also fuels long-term prosperity in the global economy.
China’s new energy smart vehicle industry is venturing into deeper international markets
The China-Europe Railway Express has achieved record-breaking performance in 2024, with 19,000 train trips and 2.07 million TEUs of cargo transported, underscoring closer trade ties between China and Europe and the phased success of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In 2024, China’s automotive exports to BRI countries reached USD 136.02 billion, a 16.2% year-on-year increase. The total volume of vehicle exports to these countries rose from 3.43 million units in 2023 to 4.43 million units in 2024, with new energy vehicle (NEV) exports surging to 978,000 units during the same period.
Automakers (OEMs) and suppliers have concentrated their factory investments in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries, primarily in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia), Europe (Hungary and Poland), and South America (Brazil). This geographic clustering enhances supply chain collaboration, reduces procurement costs, and improves production efficiency.
Example: Thailand’s Automotive Chains
OEMs in Thailand: BYD, Chery, NETA Auto, Changan New Energy, and Great Wall Motors.
Suppliers in Thailand: Gotion High-tech, Eve Energy, Minth Group and Jinggong Automotive.
This concentration stems from Thailand’s mature automotive supply chain, skilled labor force, and strategic location to access the broader Southeast Asian market. Additionally, Thailand’s port advantages facilitate vehicle exports to global markets.
EO Intelligence will release two in-depth reports analyzing the globalization of China’s new energy smart vehicle industrial chain, with a continued focus on the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Markets.”
EO Intelligence maintains an optimistic outlook on the future expansion of China’s new energy smart vehicle industry into BRI countries. We are committed to tracking developments in this sector, delivering rigorous research and actionable insights to guide industry stakeholders. We also welcome collaboration and dialogue with global readers to jointly advance the sustainable growth of China’s new energy smart vehicle industrial chain in international markets.
For detailed insights, refer to our report:《2025 China New Energy Smart Vehicle Industrial Chain Globalization Report: Belt and Road Initiative Chapter》. For inquiries, please contact the report author Chen Haonan at: chenhaonan@iyiou.com.