CNBC's The China Connection newsletter: Tackling EV trucks after success with cars

Hi, this is Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection — a snapshot of what I'm seeing and hearing from local businesses.

China isn't resting on its laurels after its success in electric cars. From new policy goals to exports, what's about to speed things up?

China plans to repeat its electric car success story — this time with trucks.

As shipping and oil costs surged this year, an overseas buyer of around 880 electric trucks pressed Chinese manufacturer Sany to ship all of them by the end of June, according to Michael Yue, general manager of overseas markets for Sany Heavy Industry's electric truck division.

Before the Iran war, overseas adoption of electric trucks was expected to take three to five years, Yue told me last week. "But now, they need it immediately."

Our conversation came just days after China's Ministry of Transport called for new energy heavy trucks to account for 40% of new truck sales by 2030. More than 80% of trucks used on shorter routes around Beijing should be electric, the policy added.

The targets echo China's push more than a decade ago to develop new energy passenger cars, a category that includes battery-powered and hybrid models. The goal was for NEVs to account for 20% of new passenger car sales by 2025.

China blew past that benchmark.

By 2024, more than half of new passenger cars sold in China were NEVs. That figure has since climbed above 60%, and BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li recently predicted it could reach 80% soon.

Electric trucks are following a similar trajectory. About a quarter of trucks sold in China last year were electric, helping global sales in the segment double to more than 400,000 vehicles, according to the International Energy Agency. The IEA attributed much of that growth in China to "operational cost advantages as well as declining battery costs."

In certain cases, the total cost of owning a battery-powered heavy freight truck in China over five years of ownership has reached parity with diesel alternatives, the IEA said in a report published in May.

Outside China, however, electric trucks typically still cost at least double that of diesel-powered models, the IEA said.

That gap helps explain why adoption remains relatively limited worldwide, even as automotive giants and start-ups race into the market.

Tesla is expected to ramp up deliveries of its "Semi" truck this year. Mercedes-Benz unveiled its eActros 600 electric long-haul truck in 2023, but is still focused on promoting the vehicle this year.

Sany, which focused on excavators and construction machines for decades, only expanded into electric vehicles five years ago, Yue said. He said the company has since stopped selling diesel trucks in China.

The company claims its 880-vehicle order represents the largest export shipment of electric trucks from China to date.

Yue declined to identify the customer or destination country due to non-disclosure agreements, but said Sany has previously shipped electric trucks to countries such as Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

Like Xiaomi and other Chinese electric companies that increasingly rely on factory automation to cut costs and increase production, Sany has built much of its manufacturing capability in-house.

In fact, the first phase of its highly automated factory in Changsha can already produce up to 300,000 trucks a year using parts made in China, Yue said. He claimed it's the second-largest commercial truck factory in the world, just behind BMW in Europe.

Sany already operates across Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. More than 60% of its total revenue of 89.7 billion yuan last year came from outside China.

"The Company's factory in Indonesia has produced products reaching high-end markets in Europe and the United States," Sany said in its 2025 annual report. The company declined to comment on a report that it plans to list its electric truck business in Hong Kong.

Electric trucks are a small but quickly growing share of China's truck exports, said Jing Yang, director, Asia-Pacific corporate ratings, Fitch Ratings. "This segment grew rapidly in 2025 and in the first four months of 2026. Fitch expects the strong momentum to continue."

If that forecast holds true, electric trucks could join cars and semiconductors in supporting China's global exports, despite rising tariffs — as Beijing builds another industry where it sets the pace.

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June 22 - 26: China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) is held in Beijing

June 23 - 25: World Economic Forum "Summer Davos" is held in Dalian

June 27: Industrial profits for May

June 30: China official PMI for June