New energy vehicles are gaining in popularity in China, but they are to co-exist with gasoline cars for a long time to come, said experts at a forum held by Global Auto on Wednesday.

Statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that 6.89 million electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids were sold in the country last year, accounting for more than a quarter of total new vehicle sales in China.

Xu Changming, vice-director of the National Information Center, said both EVs and gasoline vehicles have their own advantages and there is room in China's vast market for both of them in the foreseeable future.

China has built the world's largest charging pillar network. The National Energy Administration, or NEA, said China now boasts 5.2 million charging pillars — 1.8 million public ones and 3.4 million that are privately owned.

However, most of them are located in larger cities, making it difficult for those EV drivers in thinly populated regions to charge their vehicles.

Economist Guan Qingyou said some car buyers in tier-one and tier-two cities would prefer electric vehicles, while many others would still place orders for gasoline ones.

"We should leave it to the market, which means the customers make the decision," said Guan.

Last year, new vehicle sales in China totaled 26.8 million units, with the absolute majority of them gasoline ones, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Guan was echoed by Wu Yingqiu, chairman of Global Auto, an automotive media group. He said makers of conventional vehicles should make innovations in this new age but he added that there is no need to ban the use of such vehicles for the sake of NEVs.