MNI: EVs To Drive Strong GDP Growth In China's Anhui-Officials

China’s east-central Anhui province, the nation’s largest automobile manufacturing hub, could surpass its official 5.5% GDP growth target this year, driven by rising output of electric vehicles and batteries, with local officials telling MNI the strong performance reflects export demand increasingly insulated from the U.S. market.

Growth in EVs, batteries and advanced manufacturing pushed Anhui’s GDP up 6.2% in Q1, with local automakers BYD and NIO playing a major role in the province’s first-quarter output of 761,700 vehicles, said Liu Wenfeng, deputy director of the Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission, after it surpassed Guangdong as China’s top car-producing centre. 

“The region’s 9.2% industrial output growth in Q1, above the national average of 6.5%, was a major foundation of the economic performance so far,” said Liu, noting that GDP growth accelerated by 0.4 percentage points in Q1 compared to the whole of 2024.

The provinces’ output from the high-tech manufacturing sector rose 22.7% last year, surpassing the national average of 8.9% during the same period, official data showed.

U.S. INSULATION

Zhang Hongqiang, deputy director of the Anhui Ministry of Commerce, said the region’s commitment to high-quality, cost-effective exports – which grew by 10.8% in 2024, driven largely by demand from Asian and European markets, accounting for 68% of total shipments – would help shield it from rising U.S. tariffs.

American orders in 2024 accounted for 13% of the province’s total exports, closely mirroring the national average of 14.7%, but lower than the country’s largest provincial economy Guangdong’s 17% share, according to official data.

Pan Feng, an inspector at the provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, noted the region’s close integration of government, industry, academia, research and finance helped Anhui to become the country’s 11th-largest economy last year, up two spots since 2014. 

“Talent and technological resources have gathered in the region and we give people the confidence to develop,” Pan said, noting the capital city Hefei’s unique advantages also attracted foreign firms, such as Volkswagen, which sources batteries locally from Gotion and electronic control systems from Xiaopeng for use at its 45,000 sqm plant.