Efforts should be made to steer the new energy vehicle sector toward an orderly path and promote a national market, Premier Li Keqiang said at the State Council executive meeting on Oct 9.

A development plan for the country’s NEV industry was adopted at the meeting to suit industrial upgrading trends and emerging desires for green consumption.

With the market playing a decisive role in resource allocation, enterprises should have a bigger say over selecting their technical route, the Premier said, calling for more government support in laying down related standards and regulations and overseeing quality and safety.

Enhanced guidance is necessary for sound development of China’s NEV market, which enjoys enormous potential and promising growth prospects, Premier Li said.

Such soundness will entail making breakthroughs in key technologies, and building a national NEV market with greater industrial concentration and competitiveness, the Premier said.

Although the construction of NEV infrastructures across China has moved fast in recent years, the Premier said, it still fails to satisfy the burgeoning market demands.

To plug the gap requires building facilities for electricity charging, battery swapping and hydrogen refueling, and establishing a fast charging-dominant highway and urban-rural public charging network. And fiscal support should be available for setting up charging piles used as public facilities.

Those at the meeting stressed developing and innovating in in-car operating systems and power batteries, as well as pursuing deeper integration between the NEV sector and other industries such as energy, transportation and information communication.

They also urged enhancing international cooperation in the NEV field and introducing policies to encourage the use of NEVs in the public service sector.

Starting 2021, NEVs should make up no less than 80 percent of the new or upgraded public-sector vehicles used in national pilot zones for ecological conservation and key areas for air pollution prevention and control efforts, according to those at the meeting.