Automobile and construction machinery exports maintain growth for consecutive months

Hunan's total import and export value reached 444.5 billion CNY in the first three quarters of this year, a year-on-year increase of 11.9%. Among them, exports grew 6.3% to 253.3 billion CNY while imports increased 20.2% to 191.2 billion CNY. In September, the province's total import and export value reached 53.29 billion CNY, up 16.3% year on year, the Changsha Customs Authority announced on October 19, 2026.

Hunan's major trading partners remained stable, with close ties with APEC economies. Among traditional markets, Hunan's trade with the United States, EU, Japan, and the United Kingdom grew 13.2%, 19.3%, 11.8%, and 23.1%, respectively. Among emerging markets, Hunan's imports from and exports to ASEAN, Latin America, Australia, Russia, and India increased 11.8%, 28.2%, 11.5%, 61.2%, and 9.1%, respectively. Its trade with other APEC economies rose 16.8% to 255.44 billion CNY, driving the province's foreign trade growth by 9.3 percentage points.

There were nearly ten thousand business entities across Hunan, with the proportion of private enterprises rising. In the first three quarters, there were 9,592 business entities with import and export records in the province. Among them, 9,123 were private enterprises, generating an import and export value of 357.4 billion CNY. The figure accounted for over 80% of the provincial total foreign trade value, up three percentage points from the previous year.

Advantageous industries supported exports, while bulk commodities, electronic information, and beef drove imports. Hunan's exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 15.37 billion CNY in the first three quarters, driving export growth by 6.7 percentage points. Among them, exports of construction machinery, automobiles, "new three" products (electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products), and rail transit equipment increased 26.5%, 34.1%, 36%, and 21.9%, respectively. The province exported 7.67 billion CNY of artificial intelligence-related products, 40 million CNY of industrial robots, and 700 million CNY of biomedicine. The Changsha Customs Authority analyzed that Hunan's advantageous products have maintained strong competitiveness, with automobile and construction machinery exports having grown for 17 consecutive months and 11 consecutive months respectively. The annual export scale is expected to reach a new record high.

Ten of Hunan's 13 cities and one autonomous prefecture achieved positive growth, with eight of them, including Changsha, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, Loudi, and Yiyang, reaching double-digit growth. Changsha's imports and exports increased 12.2% to 238.22 billion CNY, accounting for over 50% of the provincial total.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn