Businesses say they're already benefiting from new policies

In the weeks after a new guideline announced policies aimed at boosting the expansion and growth of charging facilities, particularly for new energy vehicles, related businesses have noted changes in the market as new demands are now emerging more quickly than ever.

Wang Ya, founder and president of Kuai EDian, a manufacturer of NEV charging facilities in Hefei, Anhui province, said that over the past two months, the company has seen the number of government orders of such facilities increase.

"We, and most of our industry peers, have already scheduled production until the third quarter or even the end of the year, and our business has grown fast," he said. "At the same time, new incentives and market stimulus provided by the policies have encouraged more companies to enter the NEV industries."

Government purchasing of NEV charging facilities comes with strict requirements, Wang said.

"Such high requirements promote healthy competition within the industry, and this will lead to increased investment in technological research and development and accelerated iterations and upgrades in charging technology," he said. "And for our company, the early accumulation of technology has played an important role in our competition with other businesses by winning us more market opportunities."

Wang said that currently, charging facilities in rural markets are lacking, generating notable business opportunities.

"In previous years, investment in charging stations mainly focused on the user side, with most NEV manufacturers primarily targeting urban and highway scenarios for energy supply terminals," he said. "However, as electric vehicles continue to spread to rural areas, the structural supply shortage of NEVs has become increasingly prominent. Except for a few economically developed areas and regions with rich tourism resources, the supply-demand ratio of charging stations in rural markets is severely inadequate."

He said the rural market will give rise to completely different commercial models compared to new energy charging markets in urban areas.

"Multi-functional centralized charging stations and integrated facilities for new energy charging and swapping, as well as similar emerging business models, will encounter significant opportunities in the rural market," he said.

Pang Ming, chief economist with global real estate consultant JLL China, noted that current policies are part of greater efforts to effectively boost demand.

"New policies promoting NEV charging facilities will have positive implications for consumption, production, investment, employment, technological innovation, low-carbon and energy-saving initiatives," he said. "We expect such policies to align with other policy spurs — such as affordable housing policy incentives — to drive steady consumption recovery throughout this year."