Buoyed by generous subsidies and meteoric sales, more than 200 companies have announced their intention to make and sell new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China. 

The Chinese government is pushing NEVs, cars that are either partially or fully electric, as part of a new industrial policy known as Made in China 2025, by which time it wants to have created national champions in 10 high-tech industries. China is already the world’s biggest car market and has set the ambitious goal of reaching 7m annual NEV sales by 2025. Last year, it sold 507,000. 

But this gold rush may be over before its starts for some. China is weeding out smaller NEV companies, some of which have sucked up government subsidies without producing commercially viable vehicles. The government hopes this will leave a handful of leaders that could one day compete with the likes of Tesla, the US company which in April surpassed Ford in stock market capitalisation.