(Yicai) March 29 -- Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturers will continue to expand their worldwide footprint despite a recent tightening of international restrictions such as the US’ inflation reduction act to boost local manufacturing and the EU's countervailing investigation into electric cars imported from China, experts said at an ongoing forum.

As Chinese EV manufacturers continue to lead on the global stage, they are likely to expand production overseas, similar to multinationals such as the US’ Ford Motor and Japan’s Toyota Motor, and big factories could be built in Europe and the US, Ben Simpfendorfer, a partner at consulting firm Oliver Wyman, said at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province that ends today.

The global electric car market is becoming more decentralized and although this makes managing an international business more difficult, there are success stories including internet giant Tencent, TikTok operator ByteDance and mobile phone maker OPPO, said Simpfendorfer.

Chinese EV firms will continue to go global, but this could be in terms of investing and carrying out technical tie-ups in the EU rather than localized production, said Denis Depoux, global managing director at German management consultancy firm Roland Berger, who was among the many industry leaders, government officials and academics to discuss the future of the EV sector at the forum.

In the solar sector, for instance, it is impossible and unnecessary to replace China as China can invest in Europe, Depoux said. Although the EU can lower the price of locally produced PV modules through re-industrialization and automation, the region still imports a lot of its solar panels from China.

The EU is discouraging Chinese exports of electric cars to the region in order to reduce competition, but this is actually thwarting the green transition, said Michele Geraci, former undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. The EU does not have raw materials needed for battery production such as cobalt and nickel and this will make it difficult to promote the green transition in the EU.

Editor: Kim Taylor