According to Caixin News Agency (Beijing, reporter Xu Hao), on March 5th, in the government work report submitted for review at the Fifth Session of the 13th National People's Congress, new energy vehicles were mentioned again after being absent for one year. The government work report proposes to continue supporting the consumption of new energy vehicles and encouraging local governments to carry out green and intelligent home appliances in rural areas and trade in old for new.

On the basis of the super rapid development of the domestic new energy vehicle market in 2021, what signal has the government's work report released to mention new energy vehicles?

Maintain sustained policy stability

"Continuing to support the consumption of new energy vehicles is an important component of expanding consumption, relying on consumption to drive internal circulation and doing our own thing well." In the view of Xu Haidong, Assistant Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, this statement has profound significance.

Data shows that in 2021, China's production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 3.545 million and 3.521 million, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 1.6 times, with a market share of 13.4%, 8 percentage points higher than the previous year. Based on this, the industry generally believes that the previously set target of 20% of domestic new energy vehicle sales by 2025 is expected to be achieved ahead of schedule.

On March 5th, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing stated in an interview at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that the sales of new energy vehicles in China were very good in the first two months of this year, both of which increased by more than twice. It is expected that the expected targets will be achieved this year, which may significantly exceed them.

Prior to this, new energy vehicles and their corresponding clean energy vehicles were mentioned in the work reports of the two sessions from 2014 to 2020, which lasted for seven years. However, in the 2021 government work report, new energy vehicles disappeared for the first time and were replaced by parking lots, charging stations, battery swapping stations, and power lithium battery recycling related to new energy vehicles.

New energy vehicles have been mentioned again, and in the eyes of industry insiders, they have released a positive signal to maintain policy stability.

"The statement in the government work report of this year's two sessions regarding 'continuing to support the consumption of new energy vehicles' is a good signal, proving that the policy is sustainable." Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that this indicates that the withdrawal of other support policies after the gradual withdrawal of subsidies for new energy vehicles will not be too urgent, especially the purchase tax and other policies should continue to be implemented next year, "We still support the development of new energy vehicles at a scale of expected sales of 6 million new energy vehicles and 5.5 million passenger cars this year, indicating that the policy strength is very good."

"Although there is not much emphasis on it, it reflects the consistency of policies and is quite encouraging." Similar to Cui Dongshu's view, senior executives of a leading domestic new car making force expressed the same attitude. Another senior executive from a traditional car company stated that this year's government work report on new energy vehicles will continue to maintain a high-speed and stable rise in the domestic new energy vehicle market.

Maintaining the sustained stability of policies is also a common aspiration of the automotive industry and its members. Zeng Qinghong, a National People's Congress representative and Chairman of GAC Group, suggested delaying national subsidies for one to two years, simplifying the procedures for receiving subsidies in the early stage, and easing the financial pressure on the company; At the same time, it is suggested to consider adjusting the strategic direction of the subsidy policy for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, in order to ensure the effective and sustainable development of the market after the complete cessation of subsidies for new energy vehicles, and to achieve the goals of the 14th Five Year Plan for innovative development of new energy vehicles.

Digitalization, key component supply assurance, and the automotive industry are closely related

In this year's government work report, the content related to promoting the development of the digital economy, cultivating digital industries such as artificial intelligence, and strengthening the supply guarantee of raw materials and key components is closely related to China's automotive industry.

Over the past year, the chip issue that affected the development of China's automotive industry has also become the most frequently mentioned keyword by automotive industry representatives at this year's two sessions.

Chen Hong, a representative of the National People's Congress and Chairman of SAIC Group, proposed in the two sessions to establish unified technical specifications and standards for automotive grade chips through policy guidance and multi-party collaboration, and to establish a third-party testing and certification platform. In addition, Chen Hong also suggested that the government take the lead in establishing special funds to encourage chip companies and automotive companies to jointly participate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and application capabilities of domestically produced high computing power chips.

Wang Fengying, a National People's Congress representative and President of Great Wall Motors, proposed that in order to solve the "chip shortage" problem, the relevant regulatory departments of the country should take action in the short term, systematically layout, restore order, and prevent chaos from being exacerbated by chaos. In the face of chip manufacturing companies expanding and starting production, establish an administrative approval green channel to enable the company to quickly start production and solve the urgent needs of the automotive industry. However, in the medium to long term, to prevent such situations from happening again, it is necessary to establish an independent and controllable chip supply chain, and establish a long-term mechanism for the introduction and cultivation of automotive grade chip industry talents. This is a necessary condition to support the high-quality development of China's automotive industry.

In addition, Zhang Xinghai, a National People's Congress representative and Chairman of Xiaokang Group, also proposed suggestions at this year's two sessions, such as "establishing a competent department for automotive chips at the national ministerial level, and formulating top-level designs and supporting measures for the development of the automotive chip industry.".

The development of intelligent connected vehicles is closely related to chips. In the proposals and proposals of the committee members, there are also many suggestions related to intelligent connected vehicles and data security.

Zhu Huarong, a National People's Congress representative and Chairman of Changan Automobile, believes that intelligent connected vehicles are an excellent opportunity for China's automobile industry to achieve overtaking on curves, and are also a key node in supporting the construction of intelligent transportation and smart cities. However, objectively speaking, it also brings new security issues, including data security, network security, system security, etc. At the same time, laws and regulations, data environment, etc. that are suitable for intelligent connected vehicles are still under construction, and the security and development of intelligent connected vehicles face huge challenges.

Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, believes that this year's watch proposal is a reflection of the industry's call, showcasing the responsibility and responsibility of the automotive industry watch in building a strong country. The two proposals have significant implications for improving the environment for industry development.