Policymakers from Brussels to Washington are fretting over the security and economic risks posed by a fast-rising wave of Chinese electric vehicle imports.
But for Xi Jinping’s administration in Beijing the rapid emergence of the nation’s advanced EV industry has created a different dilemma: how to manage the terminal decline of the sector devoted to internal combustion engines?
China’s auto industry is the world’s biggest across sales, production and, since last year, exports. In 2023, a record 30.1mn cars were produced, up from the prior peak of 28.9mn in 2017, according to data from Automobility, a Shanghai consultancy. However, the growth in China’s EV industry, which now accounts for more than 30 per cent of domestic passenger vehicle sales, has masked the staggering decline in sales of non-EVs. Last year, China produced 17.7mn cars with internal combustion engines, a 37 per cent fall from 28.3mn in 2017.