The electric car market in China is expected to a "drastically" change by 2020 as more foreign automakers increase their investments in the world's largest market for new energy vehicles (NEV), according to Xing Lei, chief editor of China Automotive Review.

Xing said that while the current landscape is largely still dominated by traditional Chinese brands, as well as some NEV startups, this would change when players start expanding their operations in China.

"They have been learning the market, they are not going to compete on subsidies (alone). They have the brand power, and they are going to have a wave of new products, they will probably have newer models in terms of distribution, charging, working with different partners," said Xing in an interview with CGTN Global Business.

Sales of NEVs have "fallen off the cliff" as sales in October fell by 45.6 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Xing said the plunge was due to an overall dampening of sentiment on consumers, as well as the government's reduction in NEV subsidies. All subsidies will be fully stopped by the end of 2020.

"Year to date, the numbers are just over 1 million units, which is only a 1 percent increase compared to the same period a year ago. Now, obviously, NEV sales will fall, there's no doubt."

However, Xing believes that the drop in sales is temporary, and there may be a pickup in demand and supply, especially with foreign automakers coming into the market, and possibly further measures from the government.

"I expect there will be more models coming into the market, and some other measures to encourage, not on the subsidy side, but on the usage of these cars. Don't be surprised if it (sales) picks up," he said.

Earlier in December, China set a new 2025 target mandating new energy vehicles at 25 percent of all car sales, up from the previously planned 20 percent. Recently, the government also relaxed requirements for NEVs' energy consumption. The average power usage of purely electric passenger vehicles is now set at 12 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers, compared to the previous 11 kilowatt-hours. 

China reportedly spent 36.5 billion U.S. dollars on NEV subsidies from 2009 to 2017. 

(CGTN's Zheng Junfeng also contributed to this story)