Despite all the global worry about China building car factories around the world and stifling local competitors, it turns out that Chinese EV companies have actually been homebodies. 

Between 2020 and 2024, China’s biggest EV and battery manufacturers BYDiBYDBYD Auto is a Chinese carmaker that became the world’s leading EV manufacturer in 2023, competing with Tesla for market share and global attention.READ MORE and CATL were talking a big game about global expansion. But data shows that, so far, when it comes to writing checks, they have built at home and shipped cars and batteries abroad.

China’s completed foreign direct investment in EV and battery manufacturing is a small fraction of its exports, data from New York-based independent research firm Rhodium Group shows.

At a time when U.S. automotive giants like Ford and General Motors have reined in their EV ambitions, China continues to set the global standard. But Washington’s 100% tariffs on China-made EVs, along with the software ban, make the vehicles expensive and inaccessible in the U.S. Industry watchers predict it’s likely only a few years until Chinese EVs make it to U.S. soil — likely via joint ventures — but setting up a manufacturing facility is a behemoth task. Exports are still the simplest and fastest way to get Chinese cars around the world. 

Much of the world is seeing EV prices fall thanks to cheaper Chinese models, while the average price of an EV in the U.S. is more than double what it is in China. Canada and the European Union softened their stance on harsh import tariffs because  China is the biggest producer of both EVs and batteries. Pressure is building on the U.S. to let Chinese cars in as BYD and Geely serve neighboring markets Mexico and Canada. 

Even when FDI announcements surged to an average of $33 billion annually between 2022 and 2023, Chinese EV and battery players leaned far more on exports than local production to serve foreign markets. In the last two years, announcements plummeted as the U.S. and EU both levied restrictive tariffs on the industry. 

“Several converging factors are at play: a slower-than-expected clean tech market, sustained tariff uncertainty, reduced policy support, including the expanded application of Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) restrictions, as well as mounting pressure from state legislatures and Congress against Chinese investors in strategic sectors,” Armand Meyer, senior research analyst at Rhodium Group, told Rest of World.

While the West locked horns with Chinese players, friendlier markets in Africa and Asia displaced Europe to become China’s primary destinations for EV-related investments. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are losing interest in the U.S. market, with 60% of announced investment in the EV sector now canceled, Rhodium found.

Globally, completed investments are continuing to tick up “as local manufacturing is becoming an increasingly important market entry requirement,” the report said.

Established plans in the West, however, are taking time to materialize as Chinese firms adjust to slowing demand and scrutiny over environmental and labor issues. For instance, BYD’s Thai factory is operational but its Hungary and Brazil plants are delayed, and the one in Turkey is suspended indefinitely.

Overall, China’s investments in the clean tech sector — including EVs, wind turbines, and solar photovoltaics — are so far more talk than action. 

Rhodium’s loose tallies of deal announcements suggest Chinese companies have invested just under $400 billion of private capital since the pandemic. But a reality check, which counts only verifiable announced transactions — like signed memoranda of understanding or legally binding documents — and pro-rated investments, halves that amount. And only $85 billion of Chinese clean-tech FDI projects have actually materialized in the past decade.