China aims to be a world leader in the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry. However, since last year, the world's biggest passenger car market has seen a decline, both in manufacturing and sales. With that said, electric car sales have proliferated despite the downward market.

At the World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC) in southern China, industry leaders and government officials are discussing how to keep things trending upward.

In his congratulatory letter to the congress, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China will adhere to the green, low-carbon and sustainable development path.

He also stressed that China is willing to cooperate with the international community to accelerate the technological innovation of NEVs and the development of related industries, making a greater contribution to building a clean and beautiful world and a global community of a shared future.

According to Drew Kodjack, the executive director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, the cooperation is to increase the volume of electric vehicles to enhance its competitiveness compared with internal combustion engines. "And China is doing a great job in increasing the sales of NEVs," he added.

Officials at the forum say China now has 3.5 million NEVs, more than half of the world's total inventory.

Moreover, the nation aims to increase the accumulated manufacturing and sales of NEVs to 5 million units by next year. China's Hainan Province even ambitiously plans to wipe out all sales of traditional gasoline cars before 2030.

Yuan Chengyin, the general manager of China National NEV innovation center, told CGTN that China has to go for the path of new energy vehicles to shift from a car manufacturing powerhouse to an innovation powerhouse. In the past decade, the country has invested billions of dollars in NEVs to get the current leading position in the world. "So, we have to continue to move fast to keep that position," Yuan said.

At the forum, it was unveiled that in 2018, China's car manufacturing dropped 4.2 percent and car sales declined 2.8 percent. However, NEVs have become the market's saving grace, enjoying a remarkable growth of 61.7 percent.

Encouraged by the government, using new energy vehicles to replace traditional gasoline cars seems like an unstoppable trend in China. But how long can the rapid growth last?

WM Motor is one of the new rising EV makers in China, also one of the biggest beneficiaries in the NEV boom.

According to Xu Huanxin, partner and senior VP at WM Motor, his company started delivering its new cars in September 2018 and has sold 6,437 in the first five months of 2019.

"Though in the future the incentive policies will gradually phase out, that won't affect the sales of the NEVs. In this transitional era of China's car market, we still hold strong confidence, especially with the government policies and the market dynamics," he said.

Also, with the nation's loosening restrictions on foreign investment, foreign players are increasing their leverage in this vast market.

Zeng Hongwei, the general manager of ExxonMobil China, said though NEVs have many problems like battery efficiency and charging difficulties, her company as a whole supply chain giant is ready to tackle that problem with its Chinese partners. "We will actively engage ourselves in the Chinese market, " Zeng said.

With China now the largest NEV market, the message from the forum suggests that China will be one of the front-runners in this race for the foreseeable future.