China's NEV industry on fast track

CHONGQING - Huang Zhi, a new energy vehicle (NEV) owner in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, is fascinated by the enjoyable driving experience brought by his car.

"My friend said I wouldn't miss traditional petrol-powered cars after driving a NEV. Now I'm a true believer!" said Huang, who had just bought a new NEV produced by NIO, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer.

In China, more and more car buyers are opting for NEVs, which reflects the rapid development of the NEV industry in the country.

The production and sales of NEVs in China have occupied nearly half of the global market. In September this year, the sales volume of NEVs increased 67.7 percent year on year in the country.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, many Chinese NEV enterprises have seen their production and sales rise as they are highly favored by the capital market.

In mid-November, NIO's share price was close to $50 and the market value of its stocks exceeded $60 billion, surpassing many internationally renowned car manufacturers.

"Domestic brands have the ability to compete with foreign brands, which was difficult in the past," said Gao Guohua, chairman of State Development & Investment Corp Ltd.

"Many enterprises have developed and used their own power assemblies, and some core components and application software have gradually been domestically produced," Gao added.

Li Bin, founder of NIO Inc., said that since its establishment, NIO has invested about 20 billion yuan ($3.05 billion) in research and development and about 20 billion yuan in user service system construction and brand building. Now the company sells more than 10,000 cars every quarter.

A number of high-tech Internet companies in China have also joined the auto industry to promote the integrated development of NEVs and intelligent vehicles.

Alibaba, the Chinese Internet giant, and Chinese automaker SAIC Motor have jointly developed the Banma intelligent automobile operating system, which can provide intelligent and connected automobile solutions for the entire automobile industry.

"We have great confidence in what the future holds," Li said.