China's industry minister said that the country will double its sales of electric cars this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology head, Miao Wei, told reporters Sunday on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Parliament that 2015 saw more than 300,000 electric cars sold in China, reports Reuters.

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Miao said that this year will see more than double the amount of sales last year, reports the South China Morning Post. This is because of a rise in the number of companies that are joining the 'new-energy car' race.

“I believe the industry will continue to grow with upward momentum as the government is also adamant in supporting it with policy incentives,” Miao said.

Industry Bottlenecks

China aims to have at least 5 million new-energy vehicles running on its streets by the year 2020. However, it's not without a challenge to reach that goal. Up until 2014, sales of such vehicles were weak.

On the other hand, although there was a drastic rise in electric car sales last year, two factors served as bottlenecks that slowed the growth, said Miao.

First, battery safety and reliability was an overriding concern. Buyers and drivers wanted batteries that could sustain long drives as well as have extended lifespans.

The Ministry said that they ordered car manufacturers to carry out safety tests and report results to regulators as there were some electric cars that had design and safety flaws.

Secondly, Miao noted that there was a need for more charging stations to help support the demand for new-energy cars.

China's Readiness

China, the world's largest car market, contributes the most amount of greenhouse gases compared to other nations. To help address environment issues related to vehicles, analysts say that China will need a mature new-energy car market in the next ten years.

TagsMiao Wei, Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Electric Car, Electric cars, electric vehicle