China's NEV sales projected to surge about 30 pct in 2025: ChinaEV100 Forum

Looking ahead to 2025, the Chinese automotive market is poised to maintain good performance and make progress while ensuring stability, with a notable growth of about 30 percent in new energy vehicle (NEV) sales, according to the ChinaEV100 Forum on Monday.

ChinaEV100 serves as a third-party think tank aimed at boosting the development of EV industry. Its annual forum stands out as a key gathering for the industry.

It predicts that total vehicle sales in China will reach approximately 32 million units in 2025, with about 26 million units sold in the domestic market, reflecting a growth rate of 3 percent. In the NEV segment, total sales, including exports, are expected to hit 16.5 million units, with domestic demand anticipated to reach 15 million units, leading to a market penetration rate exceeding 55 percent.

Experts at the forum note that plug-in hybrid and extended-range electric vehicles will play a crucial role in driving sales growth in the NEV sector. Additionally, new-generation products, particularly solid-state batteries, are set to accelerate mass production.

"Semi-solid or quasi-solid batteries will gain a substantial market presence next year, and we anticipate that fully solid-state battery technology will begin small-scale deployment by 2027 or 2028," said Zhang Yongwei, secretary general of ChinaEV100.

Experts also predict a comprehensive acceleration in the intelligent transformation of NEVs in 2025, with smart cockpits and autonomous driving features becoming standard equipment. Artificial intelligence technology is poised to revolutionize the automotive industry, as large language models integrate into enterprise operations will propel smart manufacturing upgrades.

Furthermore, the year of 2025 is poised to be a pivotal one for the international expansion of China's NEVs, with Latin America, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Middle to be key overseas markets for Chinese EV makers to explore, according to the forum.

China has topped the global list for nine consecutive years in both NEV output and sales, contributing to over 60 percent of the world's NEV output and sales in 2023.

For the entirety of 2024, NEV sales are expected to exceed 13 million units, pushing the country's total auto sales to over 31 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

China's NEV sales projected to surge about 30 pct in 2025: ChinaEV100 Forum

China's NEV sales projected to surge about 30 pct in 2025: ChinaEV100 Forum

The United Nations Security Council has called on Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza, where food supplies are dwindling and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.

Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Gaza's worsening humanitarian crisis on Tuesday, Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly amid an Israeli blockade that has prevented the entry of food, medicine, water and shelter materials for more than 10 weeks.

"We have life-saving supplies ready, now, at the borders. We can save hundreds of thousands of survivors. We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians, and not to Hamas. But Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," he told the security council.

According to Fletcher, some 70 percent of Gaza's territory is either under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarized zones, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in shrinking areas without basic necessities.

Every single one of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face the risk of famine. One in five face starvation, Fletcher said, quoting a report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Israel blocked the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the end of the first phase of a January ceasefire deal with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, with at least 2,720 Palestinians killed since then.

Fletcher described an Israeli plan for aid distribution in the Gaza Strip as a "a fig leaf for further violence and the displacement" of Palestinians in the enclave.

"The Israeli-designed distribution modality is not the answer. It practically excludes many, including people with disabilities, women, children, the elderly, the wounded. It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm. It sets an unacceptable precedent for aid delivery, not just in the OPT (the Occupied Palestinian Territory), but around the world. It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip," he said.

UN Security Council urges Israel to lift Gaza aid blockade amid famine warnings