Imagine this. A car you have sold may one day travel across the ocean to be used by someone in Africa, the Middle East or Southeast Asia.

On Thursday, the Shanghai Used Car International Trading Comprehensive Service Platform was launched in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, marking a milestone in the global trade of secondhand cars.

As a major hub of China's automobile industry and the world's largest trading port, Shanghai's secondhand car exports have continued to heat up.

Data from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce show that in the first 11 months of this year, Shanghai exported over 20,000 secondhand cars, a growth of more than 100 percent year-on-year.

In September, the SMCC issued an action plan to boost the export of used cars, clearly supporting the Pudong New Area in building the Shanghai Used Car International Trading Comprehensive Service Platform.

As an important measure to implement the action plan, the service platform is operated by a subsidiary operating company of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Group Co Ltd.

Taking advantage of the free trade zone and integrating the resources of the entire industry chain, the service platform offers public services, display transactions, inspection and preparation, logistics transportation, Customs clearance, industry research, financial services, and overseas services.

Meanwhile, a special commission has been set up under the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export to integrate resources from enterprises, financial institutions and commercial banks.

Yu Han, general manager of the public affairs department of Beijing-based online car trading giant Chehaoduo, said: "We are very glad to see the establishment of the Shanghai Used Car International Trading Comprehensive Service Platform. I believe used car trading companies, car owners and buyers will all benefit from it."

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Establishing the service platform helps to combine policy and location advantages, form a closed-loop ecosystem of the entire industry chain, promote the upgrading of industries and foreign trade, and boost regional synergy and model replication."

The SMCC said that according to the action plan, Shanghai will incubate three to five leading used car enterprises by 2027, and its export volume for used cars will reach 50,000 per year.