China's National Bureau of Statistics data released on August 27 shows that as of the end of July, accounts receivable of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide reached 28.88 trillion yuan, up 8.5% year-on-year, while operating revenue of these enterprises reached 80.92 trillion yuan over the same period, up 6.5% year-on-year.

The growth rate of accounts receivable for industrial enterprises above designated size exceeded that of operating revenue.

At the same time, corporate payment collection times are also lengthening, with private enterprises taking longer than state-owned ones.

As of the end of July, the average collection period for accounts receivable of industrial enterprises above designated size was 71.9 days, an increase of 0.9 days year-on-year.

As of the end of June, the collection period for private industrial enterprises was 75.6 days, significantly longer than the 55.6 days for state-controlled enterprises.

On September 7, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the Notice on Promoting Automobile Enterprises to Standardize Supplier Payment Terms and Optimize Payment Cycle Management, the first national-level document on payment cycle management targeting the automotive industry.

The Notice sets clear regulatory requirements across multiple key areas: payment terms are calculated from the date the supplier delivers goods and they pass inspection; general parts should complete inspection within 3 working days, and those requiring vehicle installation verification should complete it within 5 working days; cash payment is encouraged, and suppliers should not be forced to accept non-cash payment methods such as commercial bills; and "payment" is defined by the time of cash transfer.

A relevant official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology acknowledged in a press briefing that currently "some suppliers do not feel much benefit," and that inconsistent starting-time standards and unclear inspection conditions have led to a significant gap between actual payment terms and promised payment terms.

As the passenger vehicle segment with the longest automotive industry chain and the broadest coverage of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, the scale and payment cycle changes of listed companies' accounts payable are both a direct mirror of industry prosperity and a core indicator for observing the health of capital circulation across the upstream and downstream.

According to statistics from the first-half 2026 financial reports, the accounts payable and notes scales of 12 mainstream passenger vehicle listed companies show significant tiered differences, with growth rates and payment cycles showing clear camp divergence.

Under the policy direction of regulators standardizing payment terms and smoothing capital circulation in the industrial chain, the payment term expansion logic of high-growth enterprises is now facing market scrutiny.

Payables Scale Tiers Solidify as New Forces Diverge Sharply in Growth

In terms of the absolute scale of accounts payable and notes, the passenger vehicle industry has formed a clear three-tier structure, with a prominent concentration effect at the top.

The trillion-yuan first tier consists of three companies.

SAIC Motor ranks first in the industry with a payables scale of 279.6 billion yuan, up 21.3% year-on-year.

BYD follows with a payables scale of 229.8 billion yuan, down 2.9% year-on-year.

Chery Automobile ranks third at 145.7 billion yuan, up 37.0% year-on-year.

The three companies together account for more than 60% of the total payables in the statistical sample.

In the second tier of 50 billion to 100 billion yuan, traditional automakers and new forces are intermingled.

Great Wall Motor has a payables scale of 81.1 billion yuan, up 10.6% year-on-year.

Changan Automobile stands at 61.3 billion yuan, up 12.3% year-on-year.

NIO has 60.4 billion yuan, surging 72.8% year-on-year, leading growth in the second tier.

Seres has a payables scale of 57.9 billion yuan, down 7.7% year-on-year, the only decliner in this tier.

Growth divergence in the third tier below 50 billion yuan is even more extreme.

Leapmotor has accounts payable and notes of 47.1 billion yuan, soaring 101.8% year-on-year, the highest growth rate in the entire industry, making it the fastest-expanding passenger vehicle company by payables scale in the first half.

Li Auto and GAC Group stand at 38.8 billion yuan and 38.4 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of -22.4% and 27.2%.

XPeng has 29.7 billion yuan, down 3.2% year-on-year.

BAIC BluePark has 13 billion yuan, up 10.5% year-on-year.

Payment Cycle Trends Polarize as Multiple Automakers Extend Payables Cycles Against the Trend

Corresponding to the scale divergence, passenger vehicle companies' accounts payable turnover days also show a polarized pattern, with no unified industry-wide narrowing or lengthening trend, but rather clear differences based on business strategies.

In terms of absolute levels, Seres ranks first in the industry with 281 days of accounts payable turnover, 2.2 times the industry's lowest value held by GAC Group.

XPeng at 231 days, NIO at 218 days, Changan Automobile at 217 days, and Leapmotor at 214 days follow closely, all breaking through the 200-day mark and occupying upstream suppliers' payment cycles for extended periods.

In contrast, GAC Group has a turnover of only 129 days and BYD 141 days, at relatively low levels in the industry, with relatively better payment rhythms.

In terms of year-on-year changes, the camps of lengthening and shortening payment cycles are roughly evenly split.

XPeng's payables turnover days surged 36.1% year-on-year, the highest increase in the industry.

Chery Automobile grew 26.2%, SAIC Motor 18.7%, Leapmotor 17.5%, and Changan Automobile 12.2%, all showing clear payment cycle lengthening.

On the other side, BAIC BluePark's turnover days fell 27.3% year-on-year and Li Auto dropped 22.0%, ranking among the industry leaders in payment cycle optimization.

GAC Group, Great Wall Motor, and BYD also saw varying degrees of narrowing, with payment efficiency improving.

Leapmotor's Payables Double Year-on-Year as Gross Margin Declines and Debt Ratio Breaches 80% for First Time

As the company with the highest accounts payable growth rate in the industry in the first half, Leapmotor's payables performance deserves particular attention.

Data shows that the company's accounts payable and notes reached 47.1 billion yuan in the first half, doubling year-on-year, making it the only automaker with a growth rate exceeding 100%.

The corresponding accounts payable turnover days rose to 214 days, up 17.5% year-on-year.

Whether in scale growth or payment cycle increase, its performance ranks at the bottom of the industry.

While extending payables cycles and shifting financial pressure upstream, Leapmotor's capital occupation on the operational side is also rising.

In the first half, the company's gross margin declined year-on-year, and both inventory turnover days and accounts receivable turnover days increased, meaning that alongside profit improvement, capital occupation increased on both finished goods inventory and downstream collection ends, with capital under pressure at both upstream and downstream ends of the industrial chain.

What is particularly alarming is that in the first half of 2026, Leapmotor's gross margin was 11.67%, turning from an increase to a decline year-on-year, down 2.46 percentage points, while its debt ratio reached 81.83%, breaching the 80% high level for the first time in its history.

The scale effect on the profit side has not yet been fully transmitted to operational efficiency.

The simultaneous rise in inventory and receivables combined with surging payables constitutes a typical capital characteristic of an expansion phase, namely obtaining cash flow buffer by extending supplier payment cycles to support capacity deployment and market expansion.

However, the marginal decline in its own operational turnover efficiency also puts the flexibility and risk resistance of the company's capital chain to the test.

For Leapmotor, if regulatory enforcement continues to strengthen, its current doubled payables scale and 214-day payment cycle will face substantial compression pressure.

With gross margin still on a downward trajectory and inventory remaining high, payment cycle contraction means the company needs to supplement working capital from other channels, which will directly test its cash flow management capabilities.