Ministry of Commerce and other departments: Strict control of new cars exported under the guise of used cars.

On November 14, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the General Administration of Customs issued a notice on further strengthening the management of used car exports. It mentioned strict control over new cars being exported under the guise of used cars. Starting from January 1, 2026, for vehicles applying for export within 180 days (including 180 days) from the registration date, local commerce authorities should guide local companies to supplement the submission of a "Post-Sale Maintenance Service Confirmation Letter" issued by the vehicle's production company. The letter should include the destination country, vehicle information, information about service centers providing after-sales service, and be stamped with the production company's official seal. Vehicles that cannot provide these documents will not be granted an export permit. For vehicles that have already completed transfer registration before the implementation date of the notice and are awaiting export procedures, companies should be guided to fulfill their contractual obligations and export in an orderly manner. The original text is as follows: Notice from the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the General Administration of Customs on further strengthening the management of used car exports To the commerce and industry authorities in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, independent cities, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, police departments (bureaus), and the Guangdong Sub-Administration of the General Administration of Customs and all subordinate customs: In order to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further regulate the competition order in the automobile industry, and promote the healthy and orderly development of China's used car exports, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the General Administration of Customs have decided to further strengthen the management of used car exports. The relevant matters are notified as follows: 1. Further strict management of used car exports (1) Strict control over new cars being exported under the guise of used cars. Starting from January 1, 2026, for vehicles applying for export within 180 days (including 180 days) from the registration date, the local commerce authorities should guide local companies to supplement the submission of a "Post-Sale Maintenance Service Confirmation Letter" issued by the vehicle's production company. The content includes the destination country, vehicle information, information about service centers providing after-sales service, and should be stamped with the production company's official seal. For vehicles that cannot provide the above-mentioned materials, export permits will not be issued. For vehicles that have completed transfer registration before the implementation date of the notice and are awaiting export procedures, companies should be guided to fulfill their contractual obligations and export in an orderly manner. (2) Standardize the application and issuance of export permits. The local commerce authorities should guide companies to accurately fill in the information required for export permit applications. The information such as vehicle brand, model, registration date, transfer registration date for export should be consistent with the "Vehicle Registration Certificate." The registration date and transfer registration date should be filled in the annex to the export permit. For those who fail to fill in the required information, export permits will not be issued. The Ministry of Commerce will closely monitor the information filled out on export permits and will report multiple violations by companies and relevant issuing agencies. (3) Establish a dynamic management and withdrawal mechanism for enterprises. Local commerce authorities should strengthen the construction of a local credit evaluation system for used car exports, compare it with the "Negative List of Dishonest Behavior in Used Car Exports," conduct daily supervision and dynamic management of enterprises, standardize business operations, and export competition order. Enterprises with dishonest behavior should be promptly interviewed, and enterprises with repeated dishonest behavior, failure to provide timely technical support for exported vehicles, and failure to fulfill quality assurance obligations, or legal persons of such enterprises and related persons who set up other enterprises for used car export business should be ordered to formulate and implement corrective measures for past dishonest behavior. When reviewing their export permit applications, the implementation of corrective measures should be comprehensively considered to make a decision on whether to grant the permit. 2. Further strengthen compliance review (4) Strict conditions for applying for export permits for vehicles exported under the name of modified vehicles. Local commerce authorities should guide modified vehicle export enterprises to accurately fill in information such as the chassis brand, modified vehicle brand, vehicle model, and submit proof of the authenticity of the modification. Permits will not be issued for products that cannot prove the authenticity of the modification, similar modified products that are not listed in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products," and products that do not have valid compulsory product certification. Investigations should be conducted on the export situation of local modified vehicle production enterprises and their modified production capacity matching the export volume, and relevant information should be timely reported to the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the General Administration of Customs will closely monitor and timely share abnormal situations at various stages of export of modified vehicles, and increase inspection and punishment efforts. 3. Continuously promote the healthy development of used car exports (5) Enhance the international business capabilities of enterprises. Local commerce authorities should make full use of various trade promotion platforms to support enterprises in exploring diverse markets. Companies should be encouraged to establish public display and trading markets in key markets, expand marketing, warehousing, and other comprehensive services. An improved training system should be established to guide enterprises in compliance through policy advocacy, experience exchange, and other methods. (6) Improve the export support system. Local commerce authorities should focus on long-term development, encourage export enterprises to work with vehicle production enterprises and overseas importers to provide after-sales service, ensure the supply of maintenance parts and technical support. Cooperation should be promoted between export enterprises and supply chain supporting enterprises such as logistics, finance, and third-party quality assurance organizations. The development of specialized trading markets for used car exports should be explored, and a "one-stop" service for used car exports, including preparation, inspection, customs clearance, logistics, should be provided to support the healthy and continuous development of used car exports. This article was compiled from the official website of the Ministry of Commerce. Editor: Jiang Yuanhua.