CHINESE and German enterprises took the stage to discuss new tech and the future development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and innovative cooperation in related industrial chains during a subforum on NEVs held at the Sino-German Economic Forum in Shenzhen on Wednesday.

Shenzhen is stepping forward to build new infrastructure and accelerate the ecosystem for the NEV industry. The city has taken the lead in the world in auto digital technology, self-driving technology and multi-scene application exploration. Many experts expected the cooperation between Chinese and German companies in innovating the NEV industrial chain.

As a city of innovation, the NEV industry is booming in Shenzhen. Chen Huijun, secretary-general of the Shenzhen automotive electronics industry association, revealed that the city is now home to 1,500-1,600 automotive electronics companies, with output surpassing 150 billion yuan (US$21.81 billion). Shenzhen sold 211,500 NEVs in 2022, with market penetration rate reaching 48%, ranking first among first-tier cities.

Currently, Shenzhen is empowered with a completed NEV industrial chain. The Yanluo Intelligent Connected Vehicles Industry Park is being built in Bao’an, and the city is working on a complete ecosystem in NEV industry development, promoting leading enterprises to improve their research and development capabilities in intelligent, connected and digital aspects. Shenzhen has set a goal to break the 65-billion-yuan threshold to the added value of the NEV industry.

“NEV sales in China have seen a surge since 2016, reaching 6.88 million units in 2022 with a penetration rate of 25.6%. Chinese sales accounted for 63.6% of the world’s total amount, which stood at 10.82 million units in 2022. A total of 933,000 NEVs were sold in domestic market in January and February, with a penetration rate of 25.7%,” Yang Hong, president of Hangsheng Electronics Co. Ltd., released the data when analyzing NEV industry trends.

China EV100, a nonprofit organization and third-party think tank aimed at boosting the development of the EV industry, speculated that the domestic NEV scale will exceed 10 million units in 2023.

Yang pointed out that NEVs will be more intelligent and low-carbon to meet future development requirements. He also predicted that the intelligent connected vehicles will show cross-integration and fusion in different fields.

In terms of green development, Yang said that China will roll out measures to promote the green and low-carbon development of the auto industry.

(Chen Siqi)