But what about the export of Chinese-built cars by foreign automakers?

Last year, General Motors and Honda Motor Co. continued to ship Chinese-built subcompacts overseas. Daimler AG and BMW AG are exporting stretched sedans, while Volkswagen China plans to ship vehicles into two former Soviet republics.

What's going on, here? Are international automakers converting China into their export powerhouse?

It is quite certain that we'll see more global brands export their products from China over the next few years. That said, it would still be wrong to expect Chinese exports to grab a big share of overseas sales any time soon.

First, international brands have already established global production footprints, especially in mature markets such as Europe and North America.

That means the volume of their exports from China will remain small and that the export markets for their China-built products will mostly be in developing countries.

This becomes clear when we take a closer look at the export strategies of the international automakers. Let's start with the luxury brands.

Since China has a big appetite for stretched luxury sedans, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi each produce their long-wheelbase sedans there.

Jenny Gu, a Shanghai-based analyst with LMC Automotive, said it will become more advantageous for luxury brands to export extended wheelbase vehicles from China.

For example, Daimler is shipping its stretched 5 series sedan from China to the Middle East, while Mercedes-Benz is exporting its long-wheelbase E-Class sedan to Colombia.

Since there is limited demand for stretched sedans outside China, it doesn't make much sense to build new assembly lines elsewhere. That's why BMW and Mercedes-Benz prefer to export these vehicles from China.

Now let's consider the mass-market automakers. Last year, GM exported 30,000 Chevrolet New Sail subcompacts from China. Those vehicles were sold mainly in countries like Chile, Peru, Algeria and Iraq.

Meanwhile, Honda began exporting its Fit subcompact to Canada in December. However, Honda will stop doing so after its Mexican assembly plant comes on line in 2014.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co. plans to build an assembly plant in Xinjiang in northwest China. This plant will ship some vehicles to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

In each case, foreign automakers are exporting vehicles from China to fill modest product gaps in their overseas markets.

If these companies are rational, they won't ship so many vehicles from China that they will disrupt their existing model lineups in other markets.