Redeemable non-controlling interests (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2020
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Percentage of interest, redemption price		6.00%
Accretion of redeemable non-controlling interests	$ (3)	$ (3)
Accretion of temporary equity redemption value		500
Hubei Venture Fund
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Issuance of shares by a subsidiary		$ 700

Percentage of interest used as a measure for redemption price for the number of shares redeemable.

No definition available.

Name:	caas_RedeemableNoncontrollingInterestRedemptionPricePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	caas_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RedeemableNoncontrollingInterestLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Value of accretion of temporary equity to its redemption value during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TemporaryEquityAccretionToRedemptionValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of decrease to net income for accretion of temporary equity to its redemption value to derive net income apportioned to common stockholders.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TemporaryEquityAccretionToRedemptionValueAdjustment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Value of new stock classified as temporary equity issued during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TemporaryEquityStockIssuedDuringPeriodValueNewIssues
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=caas_HubeiVentureFundMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: