BeijingNews.com.cn:

The new energy vehicle (NEV) industry is a bright spot in the year's first half. Earlier, the MIIT said it was studying whether to continue the preferential policies of purchase tax for NEVs. Is there any progress made in this regard? What is the next step to promote the consumption of NEVs? Thank you.

Tian Yulong:

Thank you for your questions. This year, the development of the NEV industry has attracted wide attention. As it is closely related to the life of ordinary people, our enterprises have overcome the epidemic's impact to achieve steady and rapid development, which is also noticeable worldwide. There are three main highlights:

First, the production and sales have reached a new high. The latest data showed that 590,000 vehicles were produced and 596,000 were sold in June, each rising 1.3 times year on year. The numbers reached 2.661 million and 2.6 million respectively in the first half of this year, both up 1.2 times year on year. The production and sales scale has hit a record high, with a market penetration rate of 21.6 percent.

Second, fresh breakthroughs have been made in technological innovation. The newly developed laser radar, homemade chips, and vehicle-borne basic computing platforms have been loaded into vehicles, with technological innovation constantly improving. Batteries have also witnessed breakthroughs with such highlight indicators: the energy density of mass-produced ternary batteries reached the world's highest level of 300 Wh/kg, and cobalt-free batteries topped 240 Wh/kg. Semi-solid-state batteries are close to mass production; therefore, we have strong competitiveness in NEV power batteries.

Third, the upgrading of supporting systems has been accelerated. In the first half of this year, 1.3 million new charging/ battery swap facilities were added, up 3.8 times year on year, including 920,000 private EV charging piles and 380,000 public ones. The building of public facilities is critically important as the demand for NEVs is growing stronger. More than 10,000 power battery recycling service sites have been built, realizing the nearby recovery of retired batteries, which is convenient for users. 

The issue of the purchase tax exemption you have mentioned is of public concern and highly valued by the State Council. The Standing Committee of the State Council has asked the relevant departments to study the issue of extension of the purchase tax exemption for NEVs in light of the actual situation. Currently, the relevant departments are expediting studies to release the relevant policies as soon as possible.

In general, China's NEVs have entered a rapid stage of development. Stabilizing and expanding NEV consumption is a significant way to ensure the stable development of the automobile industry, which is also an important part of our work in the future. In accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we will work with relevant departments to further expand NEV promotion to boost automobile consumption, contributing to the overall stability of the economy. Our work will focus on the following aspects. First, we will continue to improve the quality of products by constantly improving the technical safety standards of NEVs, raising the performance level of the related power batteries, including out-of-control alarm, safety protection, low-temperature adaptability, and other performance levels, so that consumers can buy and use them with confidence. At the same time, we should accelerate the integrated development of electrification and intelligent networking and develop more services that can meet consumers' needs, to improve the driving experience and add a modern touch. On the other hand, we should create a favorable environment for use, strengthen industrial monitoring, and strive to keep the supply and prices of automobile chips and upstream raw materials stable, which will have a great impact on the automobile industry. We will ensure stable supply and prices and make every effort to keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth. We will implement the State Council's requirement to steadily boost the consumption of automobiles and other bulk commodities and encourage localities and regions where conditions permit to introduce substantive policies to boost consumption. We will make concerted efforts to organize a new round of campaigns to promote NEVs in rural areas, electrify all public facilities in pilot cities, accelerate the construction of charging/ battery swap facilities, foster information sharing and unified settlement to coordinate NEVs consumption, safe driving and the stable development of the whole industry. Thank you.