What’s new: About 20% of China’s newly sold cars in 2025 will be new-energy vehicles (NEVs), China’s State Council said in a key development plan issued Monday that outlines the roadmap for China’s NEV industry growth for the period between 2021 and 2035.
The target marked a decline from a 25% goal proposed in late 2019 in a draft version of the plan.
What’s the context: Many experts have argued that the 25% goal would be too ambitious to achieve even for the world’s largest electric car market.
The China Society of Automotive Engineers estimated that China’s auto sales would top 32 million units annually in 2025, meaning at least 6.4 million NEVs would need to be sold to reach a 20% target. In 2019, NEV sales in China totaled 1.2 million units.
Wang Qing, senior researcher at Development Research Center of the State Council, said regulators should focus more on policy-setting to guide business growth and market consumption rather than emphasizing numerical goals for sales growth and technology upgrade.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
