Tesla Motors Inc. wants to ship 5,000 units of its electric vehicles (EV) to China this year, a 50 percent cut from last year's target. 

Speaking at the StartmeupHK festival in Hong Kong, Tesla's chief executive officer Elon Musk said that they adjusted their EV sales target for mainland China following a not-so-impressive 2015.

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"We are still doing reasonably well in mainland China, but we do face quite high import duty, and we do not yet have access to local incentives. The obstacle for our cars in mainland China is much greater than it would be, actually, anywhere in the world," he said. 

Tesla has 15 stores in seven major cities in the mainland, has more than 1,600 destination chargers, and 340 superchargers. 

It started operating in the country in 2013, but had to lay off human resources to offset the losses it experienced during its first year in the world's largest EV market. Tesla projected 10,000 EV sales in China last year, but only sold 3,015 Model S cars during the first nine months of the year. 

In a quarterly perspective, Tesla's Q3 fared considerably well, being its strongest in China. Up to 1,345 Model S vehicles were sold, which account for 11 percent of Tesla's global deliveries. 

China is the only country where Tesla had more than a thousand excess EVs. In 2015, 1,600 cars were shipped to China, but most remained unlicensed because resellers "u-turned on orders." 

The company also wants to begin shipping its new SUV, the Model X, to China this year. Musk said that it would be easier of the company could find local partners to be eligible for government incentives. 

"Quite frankly, China is well developed, has better highways and better trains than the United States by far. The challenge for Tesla in China is we need to establish a local partnership," he said. 

Looking for a location for a possible Gigafactory in China is also in the pipeline as the company wants to start producing cars in China by 2020.  

China is the world's biggest market for electric vehicles because of its record-breaking pollution. 

"I think there is an understanding by the Chinese government that [electric vehicles] are important to the future. In order to have clean air in cities, you have to go electric," Musk said.

TagsHong Kong, china, Electric vehicles in China, Elon Musk, Tesla vehicles in China