China's used car market hit a record high in 2025, with transactions topping 20 million units, according to data from the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

Data showed that transactions of the used cars totaled 20.108 million units in the year, up 2.52 percent year on year. Among them, transactions of used new energy vehicle (NEV) rose to 1.6 million units, accounting for 7.9 percent of total used car sales, an increase of 2.2 percentage points from a year earlier, supported by the continued expansion of China's NEV ownership base.
In December, the vehicle transfer rate, a key gauge of cross-regional circulation, climbed to 34.9 percent, up 4.7 percentage points from the previous year.
Industry insiders said measures to curb excessive competition in the auto industry, along with the broader rollout of vehicle trade-in programs, are expected to help stabilize new car prices in 2026, creating more favorable conditions for the used car market.