China’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure surpassed 20 million plugs by the end of 2025, highlighting the pace at which the country is scaling support for its fast-growing EV market, official data showed on Wednesday.
According to the China National Energy Administration (NEA), the total number of EV charging plugs reached 20.092 million in December, up 49.7% from a year earlier, driven by strong growth in electric vehicle sales. Public charging connectors accounted for 4.717 million units, a 31.9% increase year-on-year, with total rated power reaching 220 million kilowatts and average power per charger at about 46.53 kW.
Private charging infrastructure continued to expand more rapidly, with private plugs rising 56.2% from a year earlier to 15.375 million units. Their combined electricity capacity reached 134 million kVA, reflecting increased adoption of home and workplace charging as EV ownership spreads.
The expansion of charging infrastructure has gone hand in hand with rising electricity demand. China’s total power consumption exceeded 10 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time in 2025, the NEA said in data released on Jan. 17, noting that it “surpassed 10 trillion kWh for the first time” as EV uptake and AI data center development accelerated. Overall electricity use grew 5.0% from a year earlier, while power consumption in the new energy vehicle manufacturing sector increased by more than 20%.
Vehicle sales data underscore the scale of the transition. Total vehicle sales in China rose 9.4% year-on-year to 34.4 million units in 2025, according to figures released earlier this month by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), keeping China the world’s largest automotive market for the 17th consecutive year.
New energy vehicles accounted for 16.49 million units sold, up 28.2% from a year earlier and representing 47.9% of total vehicle sales. Domestic NEV sales reached 13.88 million units, while exports doubled to 2.62 million vehicles in 2025, CAAM data showed.