Global Value Chains as a Development and Sustainability Factor of the Export Potential of the Chinese Automotive Industry

Abstract

The objective of the article is to characterize the model of China’s participation in global value chains (GVCs) of the global automotive industry, and to identify the role that participation in GVCs plays in realizing the export potential of the Chinese automotive industry. The study is based on the TiVA 2023 value added database and cases demonstrating, on the one hand, the processes of formation by China of value chains for the development of the national automotive industry, and on the other hand, the integration of the Chinese automotive industry into the GVCs of major Western countries. The following transformations of China’s participation in the automotive GVCs can be distinguished: decreasing the dependence of national production on the participation of countries leading in the global automotive industry; expanding the geography of China’s suppliers of added value within the GVCs; achieving import substitution for products of low- and medium-tech industries required in production processes; shifting the emphasis in interaction with the leading countries of the global automotive industry within the GVCs from products of medium- and high-tech industries to the business services sector; the significant strengthening of the Chinese auto industry’s role in the automotive GVCs of former industry leaders (the EU, the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea). The key conclusion of the study is that, through targeted and effective efforts to develop and integrate into automotive GVCs, China has not only succeeded in creating a globally competitive industry that is resilient in the face of protectionism and technological decoupling, but also in integrating as a significant player into the automotive GVCs of other countries.