China's highway charging for new energy vehicles (NEVs) hit a record high of 123 million kilowatt-hours during the just-concluded eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday season, an increase of 45.73 percent over the same period of the previous year, official data showed.
During the holiday, the NEV charging sessions on the country's highways reached 5.169 million, and the average daily charging volume stood at 15.3591 million kWh, 2.59 times the average daily volume recorded earlier this year, according to the National Energy Administration.
The National Day holiday this year coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, extending the vacation from Oct 1 through Oct 8. The longer break fueled vibrant travel demand, filling highways and transport hubs with bustling activity.
China's NEV market has grown rapidly in recent years. By the end of June, there were 36.89 million NEVs on Chinese roads, accounting for 10.27 percent of the country's total automobile fleet. China has held its position as the world's largest NEV market for 10 consecutive years.
Propelled by the widespread adoption of NEVs, China has rapidly expanded its charging infrastructure. The country now boasts the world's largest charging network, and has achieved a ratio of two charging piles for every five electric vehicles.
NEV charging on China's highways hits record high during National Day holiday
China is set to promote high-quality development of digital economy by making targeted efforts in key areas, said Liu Liehong, director of the National Data Administration, at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
Liu said that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the share of the value added of core industries in the digital economy in GDP rose from 7.8 percent in 2020 to over 10.5 percent in 2025, with an average compound annual growth rate of 12.8 percent, far exceeding the GDP growth rate over the same period.
"We will foster digital industrial clusters in a phased manner, leverage the data chain to drive deep integration of innovation chains, industrial chains, capital chains and talent chains, and advance the development of three types of digital industrial clusters -- those that drive innovation, that have become regional pillars, and that have regional characteristics. In cultivating and boosting the development of innovative enterprises in digital economy, we'll work with the National Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments this year to choose a batch of enterprises that have strong innovation strength and great growth potential to cultivate them as the reserve force, offering them one-stop policy support in terms of computing power, data, scenarios and funding," said Liu.
Liu said that China will also promote city-wide digital transformation, accelerate digital empowerment to improve the quality and efficiency of manufacturing industry, and quicken up the fostering of high-value application scenarios in sectors of logistics, finance, healthcare, and elderly care.
China to promote high-quality development of digital economy
