(Yicai Global) Dec. 11 – China is expected to sell 100,000 more new energy vehicles during the Covid-19-hit year from 2019, according to a ministry official.

Sales should reach 1.3 million units in 2020, China Securities Journal reported, citing Bai Hua, who works for China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, speaking at a summit today.

The predicted increase is low because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the sector's waning government subsidies since November 2019. China sold 1.2 million NEVs in 2019.

In the first 10 months of this year, sales of NEVs, including pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, fell 7.1 percent to 901,000 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. But the market is recovering as in October sales doubled to 160,000 units from a year ago.

Editor: Emmi Laine