People's Daily Online Japanese Edition 15:56, 12 March 2026

China's annual production of new energy vehicles surged from 1.15 million units in 2018 to over 12 million units in 2024. In just six years, production leapt from the scale of 1 million units to 10 million units, making China the first country in the world to reach an annual production of 10 million new energy vehicles.

According to this year's government work report, China's annual production of new energy vehicles is expected to exceed 16 million units by 2025, and electric vehicle charging facilities will surpass 20 million units. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers indicates that in 2025, the production volume of new energy vehicles reached 16.626 million units. Based on this, an average of 31 new energy vehicles came off the production line every minute.

The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" set a target for new energy vehicles to account for about 20% of total new car sales by 2025. This target has already been significantly exceeded. According to the association's data, the share of new energy vehicles in new car sales reached over 50% in December 2025.

This remarkable expansion in scale is the result of the coordinated development of manufacturing, technology and trade.

Efficiently operating robotic arms, smoothly coordinated flexible production lines and the automation of key processes clearly demonstrate the smart and advanced nature of Chinese manufacturing.

At the first "Ministerial Corridor" of the 4th session of the 14th National People's Congress, Li Lecheng, Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, explained that "by the end of 2025, the adoption rate of AI technology in Chinese manufacturing enterprises above a certain scale (annual sales of more than 20 million yuan) will exceed 30%, and unmanned production lines and human-machine collaboration are becoming the 'trend' on the shop floor and in factories." (Editor NA)

People's Daily Japanese Edition, 12 March 2026