China has set up an electric-vehicles association in its latest effort to encourage wider commercialisation of the costly technology.
The new group, made up of state-owned automakers and other related manufacturers, will promote common standards and accelerate research among related state-owned companies, Li Rongrong, head of the government agency in charge of state assets, said in a speech Wednesday posted on the agency's website.
The 16 manufacturers and research institutes belonging to the new group include major automakers China FAW Corp, Dongfeng
MotorCorp. and China Changan Automobile Group. Others include state-owned battery makers and main electricity distributor State Grid Corp.
Developments in the electrical-vehicle area so far have come through joint ventures with foreign automakers, such as General Motors Corp, or through independent automakers, like BYD Auto, a dominant battery maker that has successfully branched into
car making.
China has sought to gain control over technology innovation through a slew of policies, and the new group appears to represent an attempt by the government to join forces to exert greater control over electrical vehicle development.
It also could enable automakers that lack the wherewithall to launch electric vehicles on their own to benefit from collaboration with state companies that dominate battery making and electricity distribution.
"The message is that the government really wants to boost the new energy-car industry," said Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing.
