The production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) made in China will maintain a momentum of relatively rapid growth in 2023, said a senior official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Friday.

According to the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the sales of NEVs in China reached 6.887 million units in 2022, ranking first in the world for eight years in a row, where the sales volume of NEVs accounted for 25.6 percent of all automobile sales.

In an interview with China Central Television, Guo Shougang, deputy director-general of the ministry's equipment industry department, said a perfect industrial ecology system has been established in China's NEV industry, laying a solid foundation for future development.

"We have made great achievements in the development of NEVs, and we have mastered core technologies of battery, motor and electric control. We expect the production and sales of new energy vehicles to maintain the momentum of relatively rapid growth this year," Guo said.

Guo said that this year, the ministry will continue to enhance its support for the development of the NEV industry, draw a green and low-carbon development roadmap and launch a pilot project for market access of intelligent connected vehicles at an appropriate time. The ministry will work to improve the early warning mechanism of automobile production risks to ensure smooth operation of the industrial and supply chains, take multiple measures to ensure supply of key raw materials and stabilize prices, and promote integrated development of NEVs with other sectors including energy, transportation, information and communications, according to Guo.

"We will also focus efforts on finding solutions to problems in NEVs charging, accelerate the formulation of the Management Measures on Power Battery Recycling and Utilization, and improve the recycling and utilization system," Guo said.