(NewsNation) — China is emerging as a global leader in car manufacturing.

The country’s car exports have accelerated in recent years, surpassing even Germany in exports in 2022.

Sales of SUVs, sedans and minivans rose to 23.6 million, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers that was reviewed by The Associated Press. Total vehicle sales, including trucks and buses, edged up 2.1% to 26.9 million.

Columnist and lawyer Gordon Chang believes this may only be a temporary issue for U.S. automakers.

“We’ve got a lot of U.S. car companies in China, such as GM and Ford and they do make some of those exports,” Chang said. “But, overall, the problem for China going forward is I don’t think you can just extrapolate and say, ‘They’re going to become the world’s largest exporter — overtaking Japan. (China) has some real internal problems and they’ve got sopme problems in trade relations with other nations, which I think will slow their export growth.”

Watch the full interview with Gordon Chang in the video above.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.