China's electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure has maintained rapid growth this year, with the total number of facilities reaching 18.06 million units by the end of September, up 54.5 percent from a year earlier, official data showed Monday.
Public EV charging facilities stood at about 4.48 million units, an increase of 40 percent year on year, according to the National Energy Administration.
Private charging facilities expanded at an even faster pace, jumping 60 percent to nearly 13.59 million units, the administration said.
The robust growth in charging infrastructure is in line with the steady expansion of China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market. From January to September, both production and sales of NEVs posted double-digit increases.
During the period, NEV production surged 35.2 percent year on year to about 11.24 million units, while sales jumped 34.9 percent to nearly 11.23 million units.
NEV sales accounted for 46.1 percent of the total sales of new vehicles during the period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
By the end of 2027, China aims to establish a nationwide network of 28 million charging facilities, with public charging capacity surpassing 300 million kilowatts -- sufficient to meet the demand of more than 80 million EVs, as outlined in a government plan on Oct 15.
China's EV charging infrastructure expands 54.5 pct in single year: data
Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged solid efforts to accomplish the objectives and tasks for this year's economic and social development to make a good start in implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan while presiding over a plenary meeting of the State Council in Beijing on Monday.
Li said that since the beginning of this year, China's economy has registered steady growth featuring new momentums and structural improvement.
In the face of problems such as insufficient domestic demand and growing difficulties in some industries and enterprises, Li called for a focus on development goals to continuously push for innovation-driven and high-quality economic development by leveraging existing policies and rolling out new practical and effective policies in a timely manner.
Noting that this year marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), Li emphasized the need to give full play to the plan's guiding role in all areas, urging efforts to maintain steady economic operation and expand domestic demand.
Efforts should be strengthened to advance the construction of water networks, new-type power grids, computing power networks, next-generation communication networks, urban underground pipeline networks and logistics networks, and innovate investment and financing mechanisms to attract social capital, Li said.
Li called for efforts to stabilize external demand and expand the space for mutually beneficial international cooperation in trade and economy.
It is imperative to leverage science and technology to accelerate transition from old to new growth drivers, increase support for emerging pillar industries and future industries, continuously promote the upgrading of traditional industries, and consolidate the foundation for the real economy, Li said.
Li also stressed doing a good job in ensuring and improving people's livelihood, boosting employment, increasing people's incomes, improving public services, carrying out disaster relief, and preventing the resurgence of poverty.
Chinese premier urges efforts to accomplish economic objectives, tasks
