In Mexico City, the buses shuttling World Cup fans are Yutong vehicles, manufactured by a leading coach enterprise based in central China's Henan Province.

Of the 800 new energy shuttle buses officially deployed for the World Cup, 95 percent are from Chinese brands, with Yutong alone taking up 85 percent of the fleet. More broadly, it reflects the popularity of Chinese exported automobiles in the global market.

China's automobile exports have been integrated into local economic and social development across the whole industrial chain. Featuring advantages of safety, high efficiency, environmental friendliness and smart design, these products have facilitated local travel, boosted employment and economic growth, and won wide recognition from users.

Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that China's auto exports maintained a rapid growth momentum in May this year. Auto exports reached 930,000 units, up 68.7 percent year on year, staying above the 900,000-unit mark for two consecutive months.

Many of these vehicles are new energy vehicles (NEVs). China has now become the world's largest NEV exporter. China's cumulative NEV exports in the first five months of the year hit 1.83 million units, marking a 110 percent year on year increase. This robust growth aligns with the pressing global demand for ecological and environmental protection.

Headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi Automobile Holding Group Co., Ltd (SAHG), a long-established Chinese automaker, not only exports fuel-powered heavy-duty trucks, but has also stepped up its pace of "green overseas expansion." Its NEV models have been shipped to developed countries including Britain, the Netherlands and Australia, as well as countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In 2025, for example, its hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks entered the Australian market, while its battery-electric compression garbage trucks won the bid for a project in Uzbekistan.

Apart from selling products to global markets, the long-established automaker has built a more diversified industrial ecosystem overseas. To date, SAHG has set up plants in 17 Belt and Road countries, recruiting a large number of local workers for automobile assembly and marketing.

"At present, SAHG has stationed staff in more than 70 countries and regions, deeply integrating into local economic and social development, and providing comprehensive solutions to local construction and transportation," said Zheng Hui, head of SAHG's import and export department.

From the completion and operation of Great Wall Motors' plant in Brazil, BYD's announcement to build a complete vehicle assembly plant in Malaysia, to the rollout of SAIC-GM-Wuling's 3 millionth new energy vehicle at its Indonesian plant, an increasing number of Chinese automakers are directly building factories close to end markets around the world, driving local economic development.

Geely Auto is one of China's largest auto exporters. The company has built world-class modern vehicle and powertrain manufacturing plants in the United States, Britain, Sweden and other countries, with more than 4,000 sales outlets across the world.

In Malaysia, Geely not only acquired a stake in local national brand Proton, turning losses into profits and achieving brand revival, but also participated in the joint construction of the Automotive High Tech Valley project in Tanjung Malim, contributing to the building of an ASEAN auto industry center.

In Guinea, the Masi Railway, a landmark BRI cooperation project, not only connects the country's quality iron ore to the international market, but also drives local employment and economic development.

"Targeting Guinea's tropical monsoon climate and harsh road conditions in mining areas, SAHG customized the F3000 super dump truck, and carried out all-round upgrades in chassis protection, ground clearance and sealing performance to adapt to local conditions," Zheng said. "We also dispatched more than 10 service engineers to provide 24/7 on-site services to ensure the smooth progress of the project."

He added that through the project, the company has created hundreds of direct jobs for local people, while indirectly driving employment for thousands of people in upstream and downstream industries, training large numbers of local technical and service workers in the process.

A high level of intelligence is also one of the reasons Chinese automobiles have gained a good reputation. Chinese automakers are also developing their own standards for operating systems.

"We are actively leading the construction of industrial standards," said Sun Jian, vice president of Neusoft Reach Automotive Technology (Shenyang) Co., Ltd. "Our independently developed automobile operating system has achieved optimized adaptation of software products across regions and platforms, and has been mass-produced and applied on a large scale globally. We have established in-depth cooperation with more than 150 domestic and foreign partners."

Currently, Neusoft Reach is spearheading the establishment of both domestic and international standard systems, aligning Chinese industry standards with their global counterparts, and driving collaborative innovation across the full industrial chain ecosystem.

"China's auto industry is not only an important force in global manufacturing, but also an important promoter of the reshaping of the future global auto cooperation pattern," said Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman and secretary-general of China EV100, a non-governmental policy research institute.