China Drops EVs From 2026–2030 Strategic Industry List

China's leading automaker BYD aims 1.5–1.6m overseas EV sales in 2026, with growth across Europe, North America and ASEAN.
BYD electric cars waiting to be loaded on a ship stacked at the international container terminal of Taicang Port at Suzhou Port, in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province. (Photo: AFP)

China has published its economic and industrial priorities for 2026–2030 without explicitly naming new energy vehicles (NEVs) or electric vehicles (EVs) among the “strategic emerging fields” it wants to accelerate.

This signals that carmakers will have to compete under tighter national market rules, after a decade and a half of central and local support.

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