China's NEV industry shakeout: growing pains and breakthroughs

The abrupt collapse of electric vehicle maker Jiyue, hot on the heels of HiPhi's decline, has ignited fresh scrutiny over the sustainability of China's new energy automotive ambitions. Two urgent questions emerge: Do these failures signal systemic fragility? And what trajectory awaits the world's most prolific NEV market?

In fact, such corporate casualties reflect an inevitable maturation phase–the Darwinian "growing pains" inherent to any disruptive sector. China's NEV landscape embodies a paradox of vibrancy and volatility.

New energy vehicles are manufactured in an intelligent workshop of Chinese new energy vehicle maker Leapmotor in Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang province. (People's Daily Online/Jin Sicheng)

The dynamism is undeniable. An unrivaled proliferation of models, relentless technological innovation, colossal manufacturing heft, and competitive pricing edge have cemented China's global NEV dominance. Driving this momentum is a tech-savvy demographic wave: post-90s and Gen-Z consumers now dictate market trends through digital-native purchasing behaviors.

Yet the sector remains brutally competitive. Breakneck expansion has compressed profit margins to precarious levels, with even market leaders reportedly earning 8,000 yuan ($1,094) per vehicle. This cutthroat environment claims weaker players while pushing survivors toward relentless optimization.

The tremors extend beyond automakers. Traditional combustion-engine manufacturers face existential pressures as EV adoption accelerates, while petrol stations confront obsolescence amid charging infrastructure proliferation. Such collateral impacts underscore a fundamental truth: China's NEV revolution isn't merely evolving–it's actively reshaping industrial ecosystems through creative destruction.

Yet adversity holds no veto over ambition. History attests that China's industrial ascendancy has been galvanised not by smooth passage but by friction–each obstacle a whetstone for innovation.

Technicians check a charging pole in an expressway service station in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu province. (People's Daily Online/Ren Fei)

Decades ago, its automotive progress demanded trading market access for foreign technology. Today, the NEV sector charts an autonomous course, leading the global market. Parallels abound: the solar industry, once shackled by overseas monopolies over raw materials, equipment and distribution channels, now commands over 80 percent of worldwide photovoltaic module production. Similarly, China's once-struggling shipbuilding sector has led globally across three core benchmarks for 15 consecutive years. These trajectories share a DNA–transformative growth forged through pressure.

Contemporary battles mirror this pattern. The NEV and solar sectors now navigate dual fronts: cutthroat domestic competition and geopolitical headwinds abroad. Shipbuilders, encircled by established maritime powers, are confronted with technical bottlenecks one after another. Crucially, each conquered challenge begets not complacency but capacity for the next trial–a self-reinforcing cycle where industries evolve through perpetual problem-solving. This iterative momentum, far from signalling crisis, builds economic muscle memory: resilience honed in the furnace of competition ultimately propels sustainable advancement.

Market dynamics obey an iron law of natural selection. As weaker contenders retreat, resilient innovators surge ahead. BYD, the venerable automaker, seized the global NEV sales crown in 2024; upstart Xiaomi defied expectations by hitting annual production benchmarks; SAIC Motor now operates across more than 100 markets. These new vanguards thrive not through imitation but through audacious R&D investments and disruptive product differentiation.

In Heihe, Heilongjiang province, a frigid-weather testing hub thrives as a bellwether: 70 percent of this year's trial vehicles are new energy ones. The ripple effects extend beyond automakers, galvanizing regional industrial chains and economic revitalization.

New energy vehicles are assembled in a workshop of Chinese carmaker Chery in Wuhu, east China's Anhui province. (People's Daily Online/Xiao Benxiang)

Notably, coverage by EV Pulse, a U.S.-based outlet, revealed an undercurrent at Las Vegas' CES: during test rides in Chinese NEVs, a correspondent recorded "catching up with" China as a recurring refrain among auto executives, engineers, and analysts—a phrase uttered with startling frequency.

Industrial maturation mirrors human growth. Parents of rapidly sprouting teenagers know the vexation of outgrown garments—today's perfect fit becomes tomorrow's constraint.

Nations, too, grapple with such growing pains. China's hypercompressed industrialization—spanning centuries elsewhere into mere decades—inevitably generates friction. From reform to comprehensive reform to further deepening reform comprehensively, the nation recalibrates policies like a tailor adjusting seams. By synchronizing new industrialization with digital transformation, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, China seeks to clothe its roaring economic engine in strategies that fit—not stifle—its ambitions.