Chinese cities are encouraged to create more convenience for new energy vehicles in scenarios including charging, traffic access, and parking, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesman Gao Feng said Thursday.

The country will encourage cities to reduce restrictions on the purchase of new energy vehicles through measures such as increasing the number plate quota and relaxing the application requirements for number plates, Gao said.

Chinese cities can also increase efforts to promote the use of new energy vehicles in public areas such as public transportation, rental, logistics and distribution through a variety of measures, he said.

China sold 1.48 million new-energy vehicles from January to July, a twofold increase from a year earlier. That surpassed the 1.37 million vehicles sold in 2020 and doubled the number for the same period in 2019, Gao said.

China's new energy vehicle sales in July were 271,000 units, up 1.6 times year-over-year, setting a new monthly record, according to data previously released by the MOFCOM.

In a recent report, S&P Global Ratings raised its forecast for new energy vehicle sales in China to 2.4 million units in 2021 from 2 million previously, saying the country is seeing faster-than-expected penetration of new energy vehicles.

It also raised its 2022 estimate of 2.8 million vehicles to 3.4 million.

That upwardly revised sales estimate implies growth rates of 75 percent and 40 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

China's new energy vehicle penetration has risen rapidly from 5.4 percent in 2020 to 9.4 percent in the first half of 2021 and 12.7 percent in June 2021, the report noted.

Analyst says China's new energy vehicle penetration set to exceed expectations