(Source: CnEVPost)

By the end of May 2021, China had about 5.8 million new energy vehicles, accounting for about 50 percent of the world's total, Xinhua news agency said Friday, citing data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The CAAM recently released data showing that from January to May, China's new energy vehicle sales reached 950,000 units, up 2.2 times year-on-year, and the market penetration rate reached 8.7 percent.

From January to May, China's retail sales in the automotive category reached 1.8 trillion yuan ($279 billion), accounting for 10.3 percent of the country's total retail sales of consumer goods, up 37.8 percent year-on-year and 12.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods in the same period.

The infrastructure to support the development of new energy vehicles in China is getting better day by day, the Xinhua report noted. As of April, China has accumulated 65,000 charging stations, 644 battery swap stations, and 1.87 million charging piles.

China has already built a highway fast-charging network covering 176 cities and more than 50,000 kilometers, the report said.

Fu Bingfeng, executive vice chairman and secretary-general of the CAAM, said at the 11th China Automotive Forum on Friday that despite the impact of Covid-19, China's auto market remains stable, with production and sales declining by less than 2 percent in 2020.

China's share of global auto production reached a record high of 32.5 percent in 2020. The stability of China's auto market provides good business support for global car companies, he said.

Over the next five years, China's new energy vehicle sales will maintain an average annual growth rate of more than 40 percent, Fu predicted.

China's NEV sales expected to grow at annual rate of over 40% in next five years