Who does what in China’s new energy vehicle industry?

This paper provides an overview of the Chinese new energy vehicle industry and discusses the role of state in the industry’s development. Chinese policies have aimed to promote the development of new energy technologies and to reduce the consumer price of new energy vehicles. Chinese authorities have also been concerned about the balance between collaboration and competition in the sector, since most key actors are owned by the state. One solution has been the establishment of a number of industry alliances linking auto enterprises, universities and research institutes, to promote both collaboration (within each alliance) and competition (between alliances).

► Government support is needed to balance the cost advantages of traditional cars.
► Main enterprises owned by state makes hard to balance collaboration with competition.
► The state has established some industry alliances to develop technologies for NEV.
► There is close collaboration within each alliance, but competition between them.
► Private firms fall outside the alliances and rely on foreign collaborations.