China Aims to Bolster Automotive Sales During 2023-24

The Chinese government has laid out a work plan in an effort to maintain steady growth for its automotive industry, including new energy vehicles (NEVs), during 2023-24.

The country aims to increase its automotive sales by 3pc from a year earlier to 27mn in 2023, with its NEV sales rising by around 30pc year-on-year to 9mn units, according to the work plan jointly released by seven government ministries on 1 September.

The government will also ensure the automotive industry maintains a "reasonable" pace of development in 2024, with a further improvement in the quality and efficiency of the industry's development, although no specific targets were given.

To achieve these targets, the government will continue to accelerate the adoption of NEVs by effectively implementing preferential taxes for vehicle purchases and uses, as well as rolling out NEVs in public sectors such as urban public transportation, taxis, sanitation and logistics. It will continue to promote the use of NEVs in rural areas and accelerate infrastructure construction, particularly battery charging points and exchange stations.

China's NEV battery charging devices reached 6.928mn units as of the end of July, up by 74pc from a year earlier, with total power volumes charged by NEVs nearly doubling from a year ago to 441mn KWh during January-July, exceeding the whole volume in 2022, data from China's national energy commission show.

Beijing also aims to stimulate consumption of internal combustion engine vehicles in the next two years, highlighting a prohibition of imposing new vehicle sales restrictions. The government will also prompt the regions that have introduced sales restriction policies to increase vehicle sales and purchase quotas from 2022 levels.

The other stimulus measures include boosting China's vehicle exports, especially to the countries under China's "one belt, one road" initiative and other emerging markets, as well as promoting the replacement and consumption of used cars. China's vehicle exports increased to 2.533mn during January-July, rising by 68pc from the same period last year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

China's total automotive sales increased by 7.9pc from a year earlier to 15.62mn units during January-July, CAAM said. Sales fell by 9pc on the month in July to 2.387mn units on the back of lower seasonal demand. The country's total NEV sales across January-July rose to 4.526mn units, up by 42pc from a year earlier. CAAM earlier this year lowered its prediction for China's NEV sales growth to 30pc, at 9mn units in 2023, after Beijing abolished its EV subsidies, compared with a year-on-year rise of 93pc last year to 6.89mn units.