Ningbo exports nearly 9,000 NEVs in Q1

New energy vehicles seen at a port in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Nearly 9,000 units of new energy vehicles were shipped overseas via container ships at Ningbo ports in the first quarter of this year, 1.8 times the total in 2022, statistics from Ningbo Customs show.

The marked increase is largely due to container vessels becoming new carriers for new energy vehicle exports as there is now a global shortage of ro-ro ships.

An economic powerhouse in Zhejiang, Ningbo is striving to become a national manufacturing hub for new energy vehicles.

In 2022, the city produced 708,000 units of cars, 132,000 of which are powered by new energies, a year-on-year uptick of 339 percent and accounting for 28.9 percent of Zhejiang's total.

As the only port authorized to import and export cars in the province, Meishan port in Ningbo exported 97,000 units of vehicles last year. Among them were nearly 40,000 new energy vehicles, up 313 percent year-on-year.

To meet the growing export volume of new energy vehicles, Ningbo Zhoushan Port launched its first storage yard for new energy vehicles in February.

In addition, local authorities have launched a green channel for the custom clearance of vehicles.

As a result of these measures, Ningbo is now capable of loading more than 1,000 units of new energy vehicles onto container ships every day, with the time required to export such vehicles via the city's ports being shortened to two or three days, said local customs authorities.