The previous target was for the figure to reach 40 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2035.

China has set a new target for the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs), as their penetration grows beyond initial expectations.

China's goal is to strive for 45 percent of new vehicles added to be NEVs by 2027, according to a State Council document released by the official Xinhua News Agency on January 11.

By then, older internal combustion engine vehicles will be largely phased out, according to the document.

The document doesn't mention anything more about NEVs, though the target is a significant increase from earlier.

In October 2020, China released its Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0, mentioning targets for several key years:

By 2025, NEV sales will account for about 20 percent of total vehicle sales, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle ownership will reach about 100,000 units;

By 2030, sales of NEVs will account for about 40 percent of total car sales;

By 2035, NEVs will become mainstream, accounting for more than 50 percent of the total sales, and the ownership of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will reach about 1 million.

NEVs in China include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), and fuel cell vehicles.

In 2023, retail sales of passenger NEVs in China amounted to 7.74 million units, contributing 35.7 percent of the total passenger car sales of 21.7 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

This is higher than 27.6 percent in 2022, 14.8 percent in 2021, and 5.4 percent in 2020, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

The rapid increase in NEV penetration has exceeded many expectations.

In 2017, only 777,000 NEVs were sold in China, while it reached 6,887,000 in 2022, Miao Wei, former minister of industry and information technology and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said last month.

He didn't specify, but the figure is for wholesale sales from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), which includes exports, while the CPCA's retail sales figure excludes exports.

NEV penetration in China reached 28.2 percent in 2022, three years ahead of China's target of 20 percent for its 14th five-year plan (2021-2025), Miao said.

The trend of NEVs replacing conventional fuel vehicles is already taking shape, and the original target of more than 50 percent NEV penetration by 2035 is likely to be achieved ahead of schedule in 2025 -- by 2026 at the latest, Miao said previously.

China may achieve NEV penetration of over 50% 10 years early, says ex-industry minister