China continues restart of auto industry

International car executives are returning to China as the country reopen. Photo: Csaba Moldovan

Global car executives from a number of German car companies, who were based in China before Covid-19 shut down borders, are amongst the first 500 executives given accelerated re-entry visas into China.

Under a deal brokered by the German Chamber of Commerce in China, these executives can return without a two-week quarantine if they can prove a negative coronavirus test.

Meanwhile, car sales continue to be soft in China in May, after modest figures in April. New vehicle sales were 31 per cent down to 5.76 million in the first fourth months of 2020. 

Early predictions from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predict that China’s overall new vehicle sales this year will be down 15 per cent from 2019.