Visitors watch a new energy car replacing its battery during the 2022 World New Energy Vehicle Congress in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Miao Wei, the former head of the Ministry of Information and Industry Technology (MIIT), said on Tuesday that the target of a 25-percent penetration rate of the new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China's road fleet could be achieved at the end of 2022, three years ahead of schedule. 

He made the remarks at a new-energy vehicle meeting held in Nanjing, capital city of East China's Jiangsu Province.

The New-Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035) released by the State Council, the cabinet, in November 2020 said that sales of NEVs will reach about 20 percent of total new vehicle sales by 2025.

China has witnessed a booming NEV consumption with the past couple of years. The penetration rate was less than 1 percent 10 years ago.
 
Sales of NEVs in 2012 were only 20,000 units. But at the end of May this year, NEVs running on road reached 11.08 million. China's production and sales of NEVs have ranked first in the world every year since 2015, according to Xin Guobin, deputy head of the MIIT.

The development of China's NEV sector has gone "from small to large, and from weak to strong", and it has become an important force leading the transformation and upgrading of the global automobile industry, Xin said.

Among the world's top 10 best-selling NEVs last year, Chinese brands accounted for six. Among the top 10 companies in terms of power battery shipments, Chinese battery makers held six places, Xin noted.

To boost the industry, the Chinese government issued two medium- and long-term development plans. The first planning period was from 2012 to 2020, and the second from 2021 to 2035. The State Council, the cabinet, has established an inter-ministerial coordination system led by MIIT.

Governments at different levels launched more than 600 policies to support the development of the industry, including technological innovation and safety supervision, which have promoted the rapid development of the NEV market in China.

The sales figures are proof of the industry's rapid rise, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said in July that China's NEV sales accounted for 59 percent of the world's total.

Cui attributed the performance of the Chinese market to the strong growth of domestic NEV consumption and a stable and efficient supply chain.

Chinese automaker BYD said on August 29 that its net income in the first six months this year tripled from a year earlier, reaching 3.6 billion yuan ($522 million).

BYD accounted for 24.7 percent of the country's NEV sales in the first half, rising 7.5 percentage points from last year, according to the company's filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, citing data from the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers.

Global Times