Georgia invites China's Xiaomi, BAIC to open EV assembly plants
TBILISI. April 30 (Interfax) - Georgia has invited Chinese companies Xiaomi (SPB: 1810) and BAIC to set up electric vehicle assembly plants in the country, Deputy Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Genadi Arveladze said.
"We're confident that we'll be able to interest Chinese automobile companies and attract them to the Georgian market," Arveladze was reported as saying by Business Insider Georgia in comments about the results of a Georgian government delegation's visit to China.
"We held important negotiations with representatives of the automobile industry. Chinese electric vehicles now hold leading positions not only on the local, but also the international, including the European, market. In this context, meetings were held with companies such as Xiaomi and BAIC. They are both industry leaders and have made a significant contribution to the development and production of electric vehicles.
He said the Georgian delegation made concrete proposals to the Chinese companies. "The Chinese side showed particular interest in the advantages that Georgian products will get on the European market. They expressed interest, on the basis of which they will continue to study this issue in detail. Naturally, such major decisions are not made in a day," Arveladze said.
The Economy Ministry also said that the Georgian authorities invited Xiaomi to set up local assembly and a regional logistics office for the automobile industry.
"The country's geographical location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia provides an efficient link to the European Union, the Black Sea region, the Caucasus and the countries of the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. This will enable the company to distribute products from Georgia both on the domestic market and in the European region and Persian Gulf countries, ensuring the availability of products and coordination of regional supply chains," the ministry said in a statement.
Georgia is traditionally a regional leader in trading cars, which are the country's top imports and exports. Georgian car imports rose 11.5% to $3.87 billion in 2025 and accounted for 20.9% of the country's total imports. Re-exports of cars, meanwhile, grew by 16% to $2.8 billion and made up more than 38% of Georgia's exports.
Imports primarily come from the United States, Japan and Germany, while the main markets for re-exports in 2025 were Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
