China aims to be world pacemaker of new-energy auto production

• Source: Xinhua
• [09:16 April 16 2009]
• Comments

China had 50 million automobiles in 2008, and it is estimated that the figure will hit 150 million by 2020, and fuel consumption is expected to top 250 million tonnes of oil.

China ranks the third largest auto producer worldwide in terms of production capacity, only behind the United States and Japan. Last year, the country produced 9.35 million automobiles, an increase of 5.21 percent year on year.

Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, underscored that it was a very good opportunity for China to develop self-made new energy autos.

The country is very likely to shift from the status of a "large producer" to "leading producer" of autos gradually, he said.

Expert Pei said, although China had been developing new-energy autos for a very short period of time, the country was playing an important role in battery production, one of the most important parts of a new-energy auto.

"The most widely-used auto batteries are lithium batteries. The performance of batteries directly decides the quality of new-energy automobiles," Pei noted.

CITIC Securities issued a report in March, which said, "It appears that more and more lithium battery producers are moving to China. This will help China to occupy more market share in the new-energy auto market."

China has about 200 lithium battery enterprises, accounting for40 percent of the world battery production. BYD company limited is not only an auto producer but also the leading enterprise in lithium battery production.

Last December, BYD unveiled F3DM hybrid automobile, which was driven by a lithium iron phosphate battery. This battery established its name for low-cost and high-efficiency.

Another domestic auto-maker, Chery Automatic Company, announced in February a new vehicle with a maximum speed of 120 km per hour.

Chen Quanshi, an expert with automobile engineering school of Tsinghua University, told the reporter on Wednesday that the country's auto industry was expected to enter a "golden era" with the support of government policies and a developed industry.

"The government should make more efforts to make new-energy automobiles popular, and further reduce production costs," Chen added.

The 13th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, also known as Auto Shanghai 2009, will be held between April 20 and 28 in Shanghai.