A total of 1.9 million electric vehicles will be sold in China in 2021, an increase of 51 percent, accounting for 9 percent of total vehicle sales in China, data analysis firm Canalys said in a report published on February 22.

China saw 1.3 million electric vehicle sales in 2020, up 8 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 41 percent of the global market share, the report said.

That volume is second only to Europe, which accounts for 42 percent of global electric vehicle sales. China's share of the electric vehicle market remains well ahead of the US, which accounts for only 2.4 percent of electric vehicle sales in 2020.

Electric vehicles account for only 6.3 percent of total passenger vehicle sales in China in 2020 and will see growth for years to come, according to Sandy Fitzpatrick, vice president at Canalys.

Chris Jones, principal analyst for the automotive industry at Canalys, said the market leaders for electric vehicles in China in 2020 are the Tesla Model 3 and the SAIC Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.

The former car is the market leader in the first half of the year, while the latter was only launched in the middle of last year and is the market leader in the second half of the year.

The Chinese electric car market would have fallen in 2020 if not for the big success of these two different electric cars, Jones said, adding that together they account for one-fifth of total electric car sales in the Chinese market.

Other less expensive small city cars have also proved popular, such as SAIC-GM-Wuling's Baojun E series and Great Wall Motor's Ora R1 electric car.

Chris Jones, principal analyst for the automotive industry at Canalys, said the market leaders for electric vehicles in China in 2020 are the Tesla Model 3 and the SAIC Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.

The former car is the market leader in the first half of the year, while the latter was only launched in the middle of last year and is the market leader in the second half of the year.

Other less expensive small city cars have also proved popular, such as SAIC-GM-Wuling's BaojunE series and Great Wall Motor's Ora R1 electric car.

The Ora R1, billed as the world's cheapest electric car starting at $8,680, will soon be sold in India as well.

The outlook for the electric car market in China in 2021 is very promising. China already has an excellent network of standardized public EV charging posts, strong government support, and is now seeing renewed strong consumer demand, according to Jones.

China is still the world's largest automotive market. 30% of total global vehicle sales are in China in 2020, up from 27% in 2019.

These are the top-selling new energy models in China in January