China Sets 2030 Goal to Join World Auto Powers
China has proposed a target to join the ranks of the world’s leading automotive powers by 2030, unveiling a sweeping industrial blueprint that aims to make new energy vehicles (NEVs) account for 70% of domestic new passenger-car sales and 40% of new commercial-vehicle sales, while deploying autonomous-driving vehicles at scale.
The plan — formally titled the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry “15th Five-Year Plan” — was published on Friday by nine government departments led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), according to Xinhua News. The document, dated September 9, was jointly issued by MIIT, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Transport and six other agencies.
A Concrete Roadmap for 2026-2030
Speaking through the official announcement, the plan’s authors said the goal is to “further consolidate China’s advantages across the entire intelligent connected NEV industrial chain” and to enter the ranks of world automotive powers by 2030.
As CnEVPost reported, the plan turns earlier policy signals into hard targets. MIIT officials had said in July that they would accelerate the plan’s preparation and release, a move that at the time fueled broad gains in Hong Kong-listed auto stocks. The final document now translates that intent into measurable objectives spanning market share, technology, efficiency and global competitiveness.
The headline figures are striking. Beyond the 70% and 40% NEV targets, the plan sets ambitious efficiency goals: average electricity consumption for battery electric passenger cars is targeted at roughly 11.5 kWh per 100 kilometers, while average fuel consumption for passenger cars is to reach 3.3 liters per 100 kilometers, according to Global Times.
Autonomous Driving at the Center
Autonomous driving is arguably the plan’s most consequential focus. According to the blueprint, China aims to achieve highly automated driving on highways, urban expressways and selected city roads by 2030, with vehicles equipped with autonomous-driving functions entering large-scale use.
Notably, the plan sets an aggressive safety benchmark: the safety performance of vehicles equipped with automated driving systems should substantially surpass that of human drivers. It also calls for mechanisms to assess the technology’s maturity and safety — signaling a dual push for both rapid adoption and careful oversight.
To advance commercialization, China will conduct demonstrations involving autonomous passenger cars, buses, long-haul logistics and urban delivery, while taking an orderly approach to vehicle approvals and road access. Supporting infrastructure will expand in tandem, with faster digital and connectivity upgrades in key first- and second-tier cities and on selected national highways to enable vehicle-road-cloud integration.
As China Daily noted, the plan reflects a broader effort to strengthen China’s position across the smart, connected NEV industrial chain.
Growth Paired With Consolidation
While the plan sets expansionary goals, it pairs them with an equally deliberate emphasis on industrial discipline. The document explicitly calls for stronger monitoring and controls on vehicle and battery production capacity, stricter conditions for establishing new standalone NEV manufacturers, and tighter management of battery production capacity.
China will step up mergers, restructuring and cross-regional consolidation among automakers, using market-based and legal mechanisms to phase out outdated and inefficient capacity. On market competition, the plan calls for stronger antitrust, unfair competition and pricing enforcement, as well as curbs on improper local investment incentives such as unauthorized subsidies, tax breaks and preferential land policies.
This combination of growth and discipline reflects Beijing’s intent to build a globally competitive industry while reducing the disorderly competition and overcapacity that have at times strained the domestic market.
Technology, AI and Internationalization
On the technology front, the plan identifies automotive chips, operating systems, industrial software and critical basic materials as areas where gaps must be addressed. It also seeks improvements in battery safety, charging rates and low-temperature performance.
An “AI + Automotive” initiative will promote artificial intelligence applications in vehicle energy management, motion control, human-machine interaction and predictive fault detection, while connecting vehicles with smart robots, smart homes and smart wearables.
Internationally, the plan supports overseas expansion through trade, investment and technology partnerships. It encourages shared overseas warehouses for critical spare parts across brands, pilot cooperation on cross-border data flows, and equal treatment of domestic and foreign companies in government procurement. China also aims to have a greater say in formulating international automotive standards and regulations.
That international push dovetails with recent regulatory activity. As CnEVPost reported, China’s Ministry of Commerce, MIIT and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued guidelines in early September calling on automakers to avoid frequent, steep overseas price changes and to respect local dealers’ pricing autonomy.
Context: Distinguishing Two 2030 Targets
It is important to distinguish this plan’s targets from a separate policy released earlier in 2026. In July, China’s State Council published a carbon-peaking action plan targeting a 30% NEV share of the overall vehicle fleet by 2030 — a distinct metric from this plan’s 70% share of new sales, as CnEVPost explained. The fleet target implies China’s NEV fleet must more than double within five years.
The standalone nature of the new plan also marks a strategic pivot. As paultan.org observed, China’s earlier five-year plans treated NEVs largely as an electrification and manufacturing story; carving out a dedicated blueprint for the “intelligent, connected” side reflects how decisively the competitive battleground has shifted toward software, autonomy and the ecosystem around the car.
What’s Next
To implement the plan, China will maintain NEV tax incentives, support vehicle trade-ins, promote NEV adoption in rural areas and back the replacement of city buses and their batteries. It will also deepen reforms to NEV insurance and accelerate the build-out of high-power charging facilities and rural charging networks.
The plan sets a target of several Chinese vehicle manufacturers ranking among the world’s top 10 by sales, alongside suppliers entering the global top 100 auto parts companies. Labor productivity is to rise 15% from 2025 levels, and the auto sector is to achieve carbon peaking before 2030.
Whether China can convert this blueprint into reality will depend on execution — particularly on whether its autonomous-driving technology can meet the plan’s ambitious safety benchmarks and whether regulators can simultaneously encourage competition and rein in overcapacity. For now, the plan provides the clearest signal yet that Beijing intends to compete not just on electric vehicles, but on the software and intelligence that will define the next decade of global automaking.