China aims to be a world leader in the new energy vehicle industry. But since last year, the world's biggest passenger car market has seen a decline, both in manufacturing and sales. However, electric car sales have grown rapidly despite the downward market. At the World New Energy Vehicle Congress in southern China, industry leaders and government officials are discussing how to keep things trending upward. More now from CGTN reporter Ge Yunfei.

Flying trams, floating cars. Children's visions of transportation's future are a fitting complement to the real, tangible future here at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress in China's island Hainan Province.

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

DREW KODJACK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INT'L COUNCIL ON CLEAN TRANSPORTATION "A very short answer about how China and the world can cooperate is that electric vehicles need to get very large volumes in order to become competitive compared with internal combustion engines."

Officials at the forum say China now has 3.5 million NEVs, more than half of the world's total inventory. And 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, GENERAL MANAGER CHINA NATIONAL NEW ENERGY VEHICLE INNOVATION CENTER "China has to follow the path of new energy vehicles to shift from a car manufacturing powerhouse to an innovation powerhouse. In the past decade, we've invested billions of dollars in NEVs to get to the current leading position in the world. So we have to continue to move fast to keep that position."

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

GE YUNFEI HAINAN PROVINCE "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 high-speed growth last?"

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

XU HUANXIN PARTNER & SENIOR VP, WM MOTOR "We achieved 60% growth last year and the trend continues in 2019. So in this transitional era of China's car market, we still have strong confidence, especially with the government policies and the market dynamics."

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

ZENG HONGWEI, GENERAL MANAGER EXXONMOBIL CHINA "Challenges co-exist with the opportunities. And we can provide solutions to the challenges brought by the NEVs. We will actively engage ourselves into the Chinese market."

With China now the largest NEV market, the message from the forum suggests that China will lead the race for the foreseeable future. Ge Yunfei, CGTN, Hainan Province.