(Yicai) Sept. 21 -- China is on track to reach 10 million new energy vehicle sales this year, according to a recent report.

China’s NEV penetration rate was nearly 30 percent last year, also thanks to the higher presence of electric vehicles in lower-tier markets, the report released yesterday at the New Energy Vehicle Industry Innovation and Development Conference in Hefei showed. The figure in Shanghai exceeded 50 percent.

Shanghai and Shenzhen had about 50 NEVs per 1,000 people last year, while Hangzhou, Beijing, and Guangzhou had 30 per 1,000 people.

Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou each boast over 10 finished car plants. Guangzhou and Chongqing were the cities home to the most listed NEV-related firms, with 100 and 70, respectively.

China’s NEV market has developed four main characteristics. First, it has become increasingly competitive. Second, intelligent driving is gaining momentum, with new technologies developing, regulations improving, and higer acceptance among consumers. Third, more NEV makers are expanding overseas, with 679,000 units sold abroad last year. Fourth, the NEV market has been buoyed by the growing power battery industry, which saw its capacity rise 149 percent to 545.9 gigawatt-hours and vehicle-mounted capacity increase 91 percent to 294.6 GWh.

The report warned that overseas expansions and supply chain links still pose certain degrees of risks. Moreover, how to coordinate the development of NEVs and power systems and how to make the overall ecosystem more intelligent rather than simply intelligent vehicles are issues that also deserve attention.

Some 5.43 million NEVs were made, and 5.37 million were sold in China in the first eight months of the year, up 37 percent and 39 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione