The overseas expansion of charging facilities is no longer an "option" but a "must-answer question" for China's new energy vehicle industry to build global competitiveness. From "product export" to "standard export" and then to "ecosystem export" has become an inevitable path for China's charging facility industry to break through globally.
Against the backdrop of the rapid development of the global new energy vehicle industry and the surging demand for charging infrastructure, Chinese charging facility enterprises, relying on technological accumulation and cost advantages, have ushered in strategic opportunities to seize the international market. However, they also face numerous challenges such as differences in policies and regulations, adaptation to international standards, barriers to localized operations, and unclear profit models. China's charging and swapping industry urgently needs to integrate multi-dimensional elements such as finance, services, data, and energy through business model innovation, and build global competitiveness of "technology + operation + ecosystem".
From September 27 to 29, 2025, the 2025 China Automobile Charging and Swapping Ecosystem Conference was held in Hefei. At the themed forum "Seminar on Business Model Innovation for the Overseas Expansion of Charging Facilities" held on the 28th, focusing on localization strategies in the international market, cross-field cooperation models, technical standard adaptation, and differentiated service innovation, the participating guests explored the international development path suitable for Chinese charging facility enterprises by analyzing the demand characteristics, policy environment, and competitive landscape of overseas markets. This helps Chinese enterprises break through overseas policy barriers, reduce operational risks, and enhance China's position in the global new energy vehicle industry chain.
Bian Zhenhu, Vice President and Secretary-General of China International Trade Association, Mu Yan, Secretary-General of the International Investment and Cooperation Committee of China International Economic Cooperation Society, Zhao Bo, Chief Engineer of Shandong Jicheng Zhitong New Energy Co., Ltd., Yang Qi, General Manager of Nanjing Qingchen Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Su Xin, Chairman and CEO of Guangdong Eneng Times Technology Co., Ltd., Zhao Hui, Chief Engineer of Zhongren Guochuang Testing Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., Guan Jing, CEO of Guardian International Development Co., Ltd., Pan Lin, CEO of Hong Kong Source Point Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., Sun Xiao, Director of Energy Storage Business Department of Tianjin Ent Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and Liu Siyang, Deputy General Manager of Overseas Business Department of Lakala Payment Co., Ltd. attended the forum. Ma Huajie, Deputy Secretary-General of the Charging and Swapping Branch of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, hosted the forum.
The Historical Inevitability and External Challenges of the Overseas Expansion of Charging Facilities:
The global new energy transformation is spurring a 100-billion-level charging demand, providing a foundation for Chinese enterprises to go global.
Ma Huajie introduced in the "White Paper on the Overseas Expansion of China's Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (2024)" that global electric vehicle sales exceeded 17 million in 2024, accounting for 20% of global total automobile sales; the ownership approached 58 million, accounting for about 4% of the global total passenger car stock. The total number of supporting public charging guns exceeded 5 million, doubling compared with 2022, among which China became the absolute main force in global charging pile construction with a 65% share.
By region, as of the end of 2024, the number of charging guns in Europe exceeded 1 million, an increase of 35% in 2024, but there were significant differences within the EU, with 11 member states achieving a growth rate of 70%-95%; the United States had only 200,000 public charging guns, with a public charging capacity of only 1.5 kilowatts per light-duty electric vehicle, and the fund disbursement in 2025 was suspended due to policy review, restricting the construction progress; emerging markets are accelerating their catch-up. Brazil had more than 12,000 public charging guns in 2024, and Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam had a total of more than 24,000, 9 times that of 2022. "The global gap in charging facilities is still expanding, especially the construction of high-power fast charging in Europe and the United States and basic network construction in emerging markets, which provides broad space for Chinese enterprises," Ma Huajie emphasized.
However, behind the huge market potential, multiple challenges in the external environment constitute the main resistance to overseas expansion.
Bian Zhenhu analyzed the complex external environment for overseas expansion. Firstly, the global economic recovery is weak, macro policy coordination among major economies has failed, and demand-side growth is under pressure; secondly, globalization has encountered the most serious setbacks since World War II. For example, Western countries have set high thresholds in technical standards, investment rules and other fields under the pretext of "overcapacity", and the "special treatment" of plug-in hybrid vehicles by the EU is also uncertain, and the prospect of the China-EU BIT (Bilateral Investment Treaty) being passed by the European Parliament is unclear; thirdly, the anti-low-carbon momentum has emerged in some countries, such as the Trump administration's questioning of "global warming" may affect the direction of new energy policies; fourthly, the interest game in emerging markets has intensified. For example, although countries such as Brazil have good bilateral relations with China, the trade restriction measures imposed by local industry groups on Chinese whole vehicles and charging facilities cannot be ignored.
Mu Yan confirmed the complexity of regional differences with overseas research cases. For example, in Saudi Arabia, although the Vision 2030 requires that electric vehicles account for 30% of the ownership in the capital Riyadh and plans to build 20,000 charging piles by 2025, the local high temperature of 52℃ in summer and the residential form dominated by villas require charging piles to be adapted to the "installation at the door" scenario. In addition, the current situation of high automobile maintenance costs and shortage of spare parts also places higher requirements on the reliability of charging facilities.
Despite numerous challenges, China's charging facility industry still has irreplaceable competitive advantages. Mu Yan pointed out that China has built the world's largest and most extensive charging infrastructure network, and has continuously made breakthroughs in cutting-edge technology fields such as ultra-high-power fast charging, intelligent and orderly charging, and wireless charging. Ma Huajie also mentioned that the advantages of Chinese enterprises in cost control, technological iteration speed, and whole industrial chain supporting capacity are incomparable to global counterparts. Bian Zhenhu further emphasized that the comprehensive competitiveness of China's new energy vehicles and charging and swapping facilities in technology, production capacity, and green development is rare in the domestic industry. As long as the direction is grasped well, the overseas expansion will surely be more stable and better.
Technological Breakthrough:
Core Innovation Builds "Hard Power" for Overseas Expansion
Technological innovation is the key to breaking through market barriers, and the charging module, as the "chip of the charging pile", has become one of the important positions for technological breakthrough. Su Xin directly pointed out two major difficulties for overseas operators: conversion efficiency and stability. To this end, Eneng Times launched the world's first charging module with a peak conversion efficiency of 98%, increasing the comprehensive energy efficiency to 97.5%, reducing the loss of 100 kWh of electricity to 2.5 kWh, which can significantly improve the income of operators in European and American markets with high electricity prices.
In terms of stability, Eneng Times' "MOS flexible retention technology" realizes that the power only drops slightly from 40kW to 37kW when a single chip fails, avoiding the risk of downtime of traditional modules. It has obtained a 20 million yuan order from Turkey and recognition from German agents. This confirms the demand for underlying innovation in overseas markets, rather than mere cost competition.
From the perspective of equipment iteration, Zhao Bo demonstrated the scenario adaptation capability of Chinese enterprises. He gave examples that overseas has shifted from "integrated type" to flexible forms: overseas customers prefer group charging solutions, which can increase power utilization by more than 30%; the integration of photovoltaic, energy storage and charging has become a solution to power grid pain points. For example, Hong Kong projects use energy storage and charging equipment to achieve "peak shaving and valley filling" to solve power shortage, which can meet the villa charging demand in Saudi Arabia and achieve good economy.
Zhao Bo also specially emphasized the importance of "localization matching" of equipment: the United States requires UL certification and Energy Star certification, Europe requires CE certification, some countries require PTB certification, and Russia requires low-temperature resistance design. Shandong Jicheng Zhitong has obtained certifications from many countries through "modular design + localized testing", demonstrating the scenario adaptation capability of Chinese enterprises.
Energy storage has become a "standard configuration" for the overseas expansion of charging facilities, especially in emerging markets with unstable power grids and European and American regions pursuing energy efficiency, the value of energy storage has become increasingly prominent. Sun Xiao summarized the core needs into three categories: high-rate battery cells adapting to power response, air cooling and liquid cooling technologies coping with different environments, and long-term energy storage battery cells meeting backup power scenarios. In application, energy storage can create value through three paths: transformer capacity support, time-of-use electricity price arbitrage, and virtual power plant regulation. For example, under the 15-minute price adjustment mechanism in many European countries, additional income can be achieved through real-time strategy optimization.
In response to regional differences, Sun Xiao proposed that Southeast Asia needs to strengthen environmental protection, Europe needs to integrate into the V2G system, and off-grid areas in Africa adopt prefabricated photovoltaic-storage-charging solutions. These differentiated designs improve the adaptability of technology landing.
The landing of the integration of photovoltaic, energy storage and charging also needs to solve the problem of technical path selection. The two AC-DC coupling schemes have their own applicable scenarios. According to Sun Xiao, AC coupling has the lowest cost but needs to solve the problem of protocol docking, such as the reverse power flow control of Huawei inverters requiring precise regulation of the EMS system; DC coupling has higher efficiency, high-end schemes can achieve cross-transformer district power transfer, mid-end schemes need to avoid battery virtual power, and low-cost schemes are limited by voltage adaptation. There is no difference between the two paths in terms of advantages and disadvantages. The core lies in matching the cost and efficiency needs of overseas projects, which provides a flexible choice for technology landing.
Compliance and Localization:
Breaking Through the "Soft Barriers" of Market Access
Technological hard power lays the foundation for overseas expansion, but compliance certification, the "first threshold", must be crossed, and the trend of global standard fragmentation has increased the difficulty.
Zhao Hui directly stated that certification is the "first threshold" for the overseas expansion of charging facilities, and the trend of global standard fragmentation is intensifying. "Two years ago, a single CE certification could enter most Southeast Asian countries; now, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore all have independent certification requirements, Japan requires Chademo certification, the United States requires UL + Energy Star + California CTEP metrology certification, Russia's PAC certification takes 6 months to start, and South Korea's KC certification requires EMC testing to be conducted locally."
Zhongren Guochuang's way to break through lies in "certification localization". It has obtained the local testing qualification for Germany's PTB certification, reducing the cycle from 12 months to 3 months. In addition, Zhongren Guochuang also has six "national unique" qualifications, including Japan's Chademo certification, US Energy Star testing, local charging pile testing authorized by South Korea's KTL, and authorization from Vietnam's national center. "We can provide enterprises with 'one test, multiple countries' access' services, covering market access certification in 100 countries and V2G grid connection testing in 60 countries, helping enterprises save time and costs."
At the meeting, Guan Jing distinguished the essential difference between "export" and "overseas expansion" based on his own experience: "Export is the cross-border sale of products, which ends when the order is completed and payment is received; overseas expansion is the global layout of enterprises, which needs to cover the entire chain of market research, supply chain integration, local compliance, and after-sales operation and maintenance."
Its practice in Indonesia is quite representative: first, conduct policy research and find that local assembly can enjoy income tax preferences; then establish a joint venture with SEDAYA Group to share resources; set up a local team to avoid "remote command"; cooperate with local service providers to establish a 24-hour operation and maintenance network; and layout assembly lines to reduce tariffs. Guan Jing emphasized that overseas expansion requires a balance between speed and patience, and should advocate industrial chain collaboration - the division of labor and cooperation between investment and construction enterprises and equipment manufacturers can effectively reduce risks, and this model provides a feasible path for small and medium-sized enterprises to go global.
Guan Jing admitted that overseas expansion is a "