Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

These days, quite a number of media outlets have noted a shift in the global automotive market: Chinese passenger cars are surpassing Japanese brands in market share across a growing number of regions.

Data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association showed that Chinese passenger car brands captured a larger share of Europe's monthly new-car market than their Japanese counterparts for the first time in May, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Five major Chinese automakers sold a combined 138,410 vehicles across 31 European countries in May, up 65 percent year-on-year, while six major Japanese automakers sold 130,424 vehicles, down 3 percent from a year earlier.

In April, China ranked third in terms of sales by country in South Korea's imported car market, surpassing Japan for the first time, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

The new development in these two and maybe other markets naturally raises a question: What did China's electric vehicle (EV) industry get right to rewrite the decades-old market landscape?

The answer is not all that complicated: this is the outcome of market choice. And the fundamental reason behind that market choice lies in the solid technological competitiveness China's EVs have developed. After more than a decade of sustained investment, China has built up systemic advantages across the core segments of the EV value chain - batteries, electronic controls and vehicle manufacturing. When technological leadership translates into product strength, and when mass production delivers significant cost advantages, the cost-performance ratio that integrates high quality and reasonable prices has won wide recognition from global consumers, whose market choices serve as the most convincing proof of industrial competitiveness.

Electrification is a global consensus for the transformation of the automotive industry, yet early strategic betting and persistent investment have created a huge gap between different industrial players. While competitors were still debating which road to take, China already established the world's most complete new-energy vehicle (NEV) industrial chain - from upstream lithium resources to midstream battery production, and downstream to vehicle assembly and charging infrastructure - forming a closed-loop ecosystem. This full-industry-chain synergy greatly accelerates technological iteration and product upgrading, shortening the development cycle of new vehicles in China and making efficiency and speed one of the core competitive edges of Chinese brands.

What also deserves attention is the approach Chinese automakers have embraced in going global. When exploring overseas markets, Chinese NEV makers have always prioritized deep local cooperation, taken proactive steps to integrate into local industrial ecosystems, and brought tangible investments and new jobs to local supply chains.

For instance, BYD has built a full production base in Hungary, SAIC has laid out a complete manufacturing complex in Thailand, and Chery has built a joint venture in Spain. These moves make it clear that China's NEV push overseas is far more than a simple one-way export of finished products - it is an expansion of shared cooperation opportunities and new development space for host economies. For local industries, this brings new incremental growth, and for local consumers, it means a wider range of product choices and more competitive, accessible prices.

Of course, the overseas journey of Chinese EVs has not been entirely smooth. With the continuous growth of market share, external pressures have become increasingly prominent. Rising tariff barriers and biased narratives such as "overcapacity" have become challenges for Chinese brands going global. However, short-term trade frictions and political prejudices can never reverse the general trend of industrial transformation. The global electrification transformation of the automotive industry and consumers' growing demand for high-quality and affordable green travel products remain unchanged. The industrial capabilities, technological reserves and supply chain resilience accumulated by China in the new energy sector will not be walled off by a few barriers.

From the perspective of the global automotive industry, what the Chinese EV sector brings to global markets is not just a wider array of choices for consumers, but also a cost-efficient pathway for the green transformation of the automotive industry in countries around the world. Looking ahead, Chinese EVs will keep moving forward, and this development philosophy, rooted in technology and committed to cooperation, will ultimately unlock new industrial dynamism on a global scale.