Shanghai (ZXZC)- In the first 8 months of 2021, a total of 107,088 NEV (new energy vehicle)-related companies newly registered in China, posting a 137.8% year-on-year surge, according to the database query platform Qichacha.

As of September 15, 2021, China has roughly 352,000 companies operating businesses covering NEVs.

China was seeing continuous growth in the number of newly established companies related to NEVs for the past decade. In 2014, there were 9,206 NEV-related firms registered in the country, representing a 98.53% spike over a year earlier. The number for the first time exceeded 20,000 in 2016, and reached nearly 50,000 in both 2018 and 2019. Last year, the registrations hit all-time highs of 82,251, which were 65.56% more than the previous year.

VOYAH Free; photo credit: VOYAH, Dong Motor's smart EV brand

In China, the NEV industry is getting more and more new players. Such traditional automakers as SAIC Motor, Dongfeng Motor, Changan Automobile, and GAC Group, are racing to deploy NEV businesses by launching their own high-end smart car brands. Startups like NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto are gaining increasingly stronger presence in the NEV industry. In addition, the likes of Xiaomi, Qihoo 360, SKYWORTH, and Baidu, who were regarded as “laymen” to automotive industry, all announced their foray to the NEV domain.

NEVs are enjoying rising acceptance among consumers in China. The country saw its monthly NEV sales volume hit a record high of 321,000 units (+180% YoY), according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Cumulative NEV sales for the the Jan.-Aug. period amounted to 1.799 million units, soaring around 190% from a year ago.