(Yicai Global) March 6 -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. will continue its search for merger and acquisition targets to help facilitate the company's transition to new energy vehicles, its CEO says.

The Hangzhou-based carmaker hopes NEVs will account for over 90 percent of total sales by 2020, and will continue to search for takeover targets to gain more technological know-how related to the sector, China Securities Journal reported Geely CEO Li Shufu as saying.

Li aims for plug-in hybrid cars to make up 65 percent of total NEV sales by 2020, with pure electric vehicles making up the remainder.

China is a key battleground for the development of NEVs globally. Some 605,500 plug-in passenger cars were sold in China in 2017 as the nation captured a 49-percent share of the global NEV market and grew 30 times faster than the worldwide average, according to data from industry researcher EV Volumes.

Geely recently paid USD9 billion for Kuwait Investment Authority's 9.7 percent stake in Daimler AG, making the company the German car giant's single biggest shareholder. Geely's interest in Daimler stemmed from the Mercedes-Benz owner's expertise in electric vehicle technology, especially batteries.