[By Observer.com Liu Chenghui] "When it comes to electric vehicles, China is 10 years ahead of the world and 10 times better than any other country," said automotive industry analyst Michael Dunne.
"How did China make electric vehicles mainstream?" The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) published an article on June 24, focusing on how the former "Bicycle Kingdom" has become the global "top of the mountain" in the electric vehicle field.
The report said that China successfully transformed electric vehicles from a luxury product into a mass consumer product through early strategic planning and government subsidies. The Chinese government invested heavily in supporting battery production,整车 manufacturing and charging network construction, giving rise to leading companies such as BYD. Technological innovation and low price advantages accelerated the widespread popularity of electric vehicles in China.
At the same time, China dominates the global battery supply chain and actively expands overseas markets, playing a key role in promoting the global transition to electric vehicles.
On June 20, 2025, a large number of export cars were gathered at the dock of the East Port Company in Lianyungang Port, Jiangsu Province. Visual China
"Fuel cars are too expensive, driving electric cars can save money. It's also environmentally friendly," said a Guangzhou ride-hailing driver, Lu Yunfeng (音).
BBC described this as a sentence that environmental activists dream of. In many countries, electric vehicles are seen as luxuries, but in China, it's just an everyday reality. Last year, nearly half of the cars sold in China were electric vehicles.
In the early 21st century, the Chinese leadership formulated a plan to lead future technology. The former "Bicycle Kingdom" has now become the global leader in electric vehicles.
For the more than 18 million residents of Guangzhou, the engine roar during peak hours has turned into a "hum".
"When it comes to electric vehicles, China is 10 years ahead of the world and 10 times better than any other country," Dunne said. Although China was once the world's largest car market, people could only see foreign brand cars on the streets of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and Chinese brands could not compete with Japanese and American and European fuel car brands at that time.
He said, in such a situation, China decided to "change the rules of the game and rewrite the script by shifting to electric vehicles".
The report said that unlike Western countries, China can mobilize national resources for a long time and on a large scale to achieve set goals, and infrastructure construction and manufacturing dominance are clear evidence.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that by the end of 2023, the Chinese government had invested 231 billion USD in the electric vehicle industry from 2009 to 2023, with subsidy policies covering the entire ecosystem from consumers, automakers, power companies to battery suppliers.
For example, the Chinese government encouraged BYD to shift from producing smartphone batteries to focusing on producing electric vehicles.
The combination of long-term planning and government funding has also enabled China to dominate the critical supply chain in battery production. China has also built the world's largest public charging network, with charging stations concentrated in major cities, allowing drivers to reach the nearest charging station within a few minutes.
"If you want to manufacture a battery for an electric vehicle now, all roads lead to China," Dunne said.
Xiaopeng Motors' vice chairman and president Gu Hongdi told BBC: "The Chinese government is doing the same things as Europe and the United States, providing policy support, encouraging consumers and building infrastructure."
"But I think China has been consistent, truly cultivating the most competitive environment without favoring anyone," he added: "How to provide better products to consumers at lower prices is a huge pressure."
For Chinese young people, autonomous driving capabilities, voice activation, reclining seats, movie and music streaming services are considered standard configurations.
"New electric vehicle manufacturers... see cars as a completely new species," said Li Yifan, co-founder and CEO of laser radar manufacturer Horizon Robotics.
CSIS research shows that Chinese young consumers are indeed attracted to cutting-edge technology, but massive government subsidies have also made electric vehicles more economically attractive.
In Shanghai, these benefits prompted Mr. Lu (音) to switch to electric vehicles two years ago. He used to spend 200 yuan to fill up his car and drive 400 kilometers, but now the cost is only a quarter, and he also got a free green energy license plate.
Another owner, Daisy, said she chose NIO's "battery swapping" technology instead of charging. With this technology, machines can replace the vehicle's battery with a fully charged one in a few minutes.
China has the world's largest electric vehicle charging network BBC
"The Chinese consider a future where all cars in the world are made by them. They look around and ask: 'Is there anyone stronger in making cars than us?' "Dunne said. "Automotive leaders in Detroit, Nagoya, Germany, and the UK can only shake their heads."
"This is a new era, and the Chinese now have great confidence in their future," he said.
BBC noted that in response to the rapid growth of China's electric vehicle industry, the US, Canada, and the EU have set trade barriers against Chinese electric vehicles, but the UK is not planning to follow suit. Several countries, including the UK, plan to completely ban the sale of fuel vehicles from 2030 onwards, and China is undoubtedly the country with the greatest ability to help achieve this goal.
Additionally, some Western figures have raised so-called "national security" issues against Chinese electric vehicles. For example, Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, recently warned that Chinese electric vehicles are "computers on wheels" that can be "controlled from Beijing", causing cities in the UK to be paralyzed.
Li Ke, executive vice president of BYD, said directly: "People who lose the game always talk nonsense, but what can they do?" "BYD has established very high standards for data security, and we use local operators for all our data. In fact, we do 10 times better than our competitors."
Although Western countries have similar "national security" debates about Chinese technologies such as Huawei and TikTok, for Chinese car owners, the issue is not so complicated.
"I think the world should thank China for bringing this technology," laughed Guangzhou car owner Sun Jingguo (音), "I really think so."
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