Another push for electric cars in China from the visible hand – China business and technology news from May 1, 2017
A summary of today’s top news in Chinese business and technology. Part of the daily The China Project news roundup "Where does Anbang get its bucks?"
The Financial Times reports (paywall) that draft rules distributed among industry leaders at last week’s Shanghai Auto Show “would require as much as 8 percent of [all car] sales in China to be electric vehicles as early as next year.” China is already the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, as more than 300,000 units were sold in the country last year on the strength of central government subsidies reaching as high as 55,000 yuan ($8,000), often doubled by local government offers. It is unclear how the prospective 2018 sales quota would be calculated or whether the final number would be as ambitious, however, the current five-year government plan sets a goal of 5 million cumulative sales of EVs by 2020.
Many Chinese automakers are vying to occupy this space in the market. On April 20, The China Project noted that the company Hybrid Kinetic plans to “produce up to 300,000 new-energy vehicles within three years,” and that the EVs in development will purportedly be capable of running for 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) on each charge. Michael Dunne, in his profile of Geely Automotive for The China Project, noted that “Beijing Automotive and Hong Kong-listed BYD are in a dogfight for leadership in electric vehicles. The two companies produce 8 of the 10 best-selling EVs in China.”
- As China’s investors rush in, Hong Kong shares take a wild ride / NYT (paywall)
- Chinese economy cools as key sectors continue to slow / The Guardian
- China leverage rising at ‘alarming pace’: central bank official / Reuters
- Local governments defy toothless disclosure provisions / Caixin
- China’s airlines lead the world in delays / WSJ (paywall)
- Wanda Cinema Line to go head to head with Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent in online video / China Film Insider
