Recently, a forum for small and medium-sized enterprises from Central and Eastern European countries was held in Cangzhou, Hebei Province. Various brands of new energy vehicles participated in the car exhibition held during the forum. Local residents mentioned that electric cars were priced reasonably competitively, but the event was quite deserted with hardly anyone purchasing a vehicle.
The 6th China-Central and Eastern European Countries (Cangzhou) Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Cooperation Forum took place in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province on November 7th and 8th. Foreign diplomats from countries and regions such as Slovakia, Serbia, Germany, and Finland, as well as industry associations and business representatives, attended the forum.
A flying performance was held over Cangzhou Zhongjietong General Aviation Airport, with the domestic-made Shark aircraft making its debut in the air show. However, the Deputy General Manager of Jiuzhong Shark (Cangzhou) Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd. revealed in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the Shark aircraft has over 3,800 components, with a majority being imported.
Official reports on the forum were scarce. Local netizen Wang Cheng (pseudonym) introduced the car exhibition held at the forum to a reporter, mentioning that on the 9th, the venue was still open but relatively empty. Cangzhou has some specialty products such as golden thread jujubes and Mengcun’s curved pipe fittings that are exported. Additionally, there are those who produce borosilicate glass cups for exporting as tea sets. However, Cangzhou’s exports cannot match up to Yiwu.
Wang Cheng mentioned that at the car exhibition, car prices were generally low, with many priced in single digits or around tens of thousands. The subsidies were substantial, with even Tesla priced at just over 200,000, while others ranged from 100,000 to 20,000. The overall pricing was low, but despite that, there were not many buyers.
“Various brands of new energy vehicles are on display here, with cars priced at around sixty to seventy thousand considered good buys. Some are even as low as twenty to thirty thousand, which are compact electric cars, to be honest, they are not expensive at all, much cheaper than in previous years. But the problem is people don’t have the money now, so it’s understandable. There’s an initiative promoting new energy vehicles to rural areas, with attractive pricing, but few people are buying, and there aren’t many people at the venue,” he said.
Wang Cheng expressed that the competition for new energy vehicles is intense, with incentives for trading in old vehicles for new electric ones and additional subsidies ranging from ten to twenty thousand. However, brands like Jiangling and Dongfeng seem fine but buyers are hesitant as if these companies were to fold, there’d be no way to source replacement parts, preferring BYD and Tesla, though Tesla is too expensive and likely unaffordable.
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has been aiming to drive the external circulation with new energy vehicles as a representative product. Due to oversupply in the market and excess production capacity, electric vehicle prices have generally decreased. However, domestic electric cars still rely on price competition to penetrate the European market, causing concerns in Western countries about possible “dumping” practices from China.