China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released subsidy data for the country’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) sector, showing that about 1.65 billion yuan (€198 million) was paid to automakers between 2016 and 2020, with state-owned BAIC’s electric unit emerging as the largest recipient.
According to the figures, Beijing Electric Vehicle (BJEV), part of BAIC and a shareholder in Mercedes-Benz, received 556 million yuan (€67 million) during the period. Despite that, BJEV’s presence in Europe remains limited, with only its Arcfox brand currently available in Spain. By comparison, BYD – China’s largest private carmaker – received just 15.74 million yuan (€1.9 million), while Tesla’s Shanghai unit secured 3.59 million yuan (€430,000) in 2020, accounting for less than 1% of the total.
The disclosure comes against the backdrop of European Union tariffs on Chinese EVs, imposed last year following an anti-subsidy probe that concluded Chinese carmakers benefited from state support to sell vehicles at lower prices in Europe. The South China Morning Post noted that subsidies gradually shifted between 2016 and 2022 from state-owned firms to leading automakers and emerging startups.
The ministry published planned allocations for 2021 and 2022, showing higher sums for BYD subsidiaries in Shaanxi and Shenzhen, which were slated to receive 37.91 million yuan (€4.5 million) and 35.56 million yuan (€4.3 million) respectively. Tesla’s Shanghai unit was scheduled for 30.15 million yuan (€3.6 million), while Leapmotor, a startup partnered with Stellantis, appeared as a newcomer with 2.76 million yuan (€330,000).
The release follows previous reports highlighting issues with subsidy applications. In June, results showed Chery applied for about 240 million yuan (€29 million) in funding for nearly 8,760 vehicles that did not meet requirements, while subsidies for 4,900 BYD vehicles worth 143 million yuan (€17 million) were removed. Bloomberg earlier reported that some automakers had claimed subsidies they were not eligible for.
Authorities are expected to scale back subsidies in the years ahead. “Subsidies will continue to decline, with plans to phase them out by around 2027, provided that NEV sales remain at or above half of total new vehicle sales,” said Zhou Lijun, director and lead researcher at Yiche Research. “If eliminating subsidies causes market share to fall below 50 per cent in the future, authorities may continue policy support to maintain the industry’s competitive edge.”