China’s “15th Five-Year Plan” for Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicles: Quality First, Full-Country Charging

2026-08-28 汽车新能源

  • On 26 August 2026 the MIIT deputy minister outlined the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry “15th Five-Year Plan” at a State Council Information Office briefing: quality is the priority, and products that have not been fully tested and validated are banned from entering the market.
    2026 年 8 月 26 日，工业和信息化部副部长在国新办发布会上介绍《智能网联新能源汽车产业发展”十五五”规划》：以质量为先，严禁未经充分测试验证的产品进入市场。
  • “14th Five-Year” achievements set the baseline: NEV annual sales rose from 1.367 million to 16.49 million units, the share of new-car sales climbed from 5.4% to 47.9%, and China produces over 70% of the world’s NEVs, power batteries and key materials.
    “十四五”成绩奠定基线：新能源汽车年销量从 136.7 万辆增至 1649 万辆，新车销售占比从 5.4% 提高到 47.9%，新能源汽车、动力电池及关键材料产量占全球 70% 以上。
  • The plan’s four pillars are: higher product quality (battery low-temperature performance, autonomous-driving safety and reliability); better supporting infrastructure (charging stations in every county and piles in every township, used-car and trade-in programmes); improved industry governance (grouped production-qualification reform, strict design-admission review); and deeper international cooperation.
    规划四大方向：提升产品供给质量（动力电池低温适应性、自动驾驶安全性与可靠性）；优化配套使用环境（充电站”县县全覆盖”、充电桩”乡乡全覆盖”、以旧换新）；完善行业治理（生产资质集团化管理改革、严格创新设计准入审查）；深化国际合作。
  • Battery recycling gets a regulatory push: a dedicated administrative regulation is being drafted, joint enforcement campaigns are planned, and a digital identity system for power batteries will make them traceable from source to destination, aiming for over one million tonnes of comprehensive recycling utilisation by 2030.
    电池回收获监管加码：研究起草相关行政法规、开展部门联合执法专项行动、实施动力电池数字身份证管理制度，实现”来源可溯、去向可查”；到 2030 年废旧动力电池综合利用量力争达到百万吨级以上。
  • For foreign auto companies, the signals are a quality-first admission regime (new-design review and testing will tighten), stable NEV incentives through better charging and insurance support, and continued opening to international standards and investment cooperation.
    对外资车企，信号是：质量优先的准入体系（创新设计审查与测试将收紧）、通过补充电设施与优化车险维持的新能源激励，以及继续对接国际标准与投资合作。

China’s “15th Five-Year Plan” for Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicles: Quality First, Full-Country Charging | 中国智能网联新能源汽车”十五五”规划：质量为先，全域补能

The briefing and the plan

On 26 August 2026, at a State Council Information Office briefing on the “15th Five-Year Plan”, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology outlined the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry “15th Five-Year Plan”. The plan is the sector’s roadmap for 2026–2030, and its headline message is quality over speed: “products that have not been fully tested and validated are strictly prohibited from entering the market”. The briefing acknowledged the “14th Five-Year” record — NEV annual sales rising from 1.367 million to 16.49 million units, penetration climbing from 5.4% to 47.9% of new-car sales, output of NEVs, batteries and key materials above 70% of the world total, and exports to more than 100 countries — but also flagged the problems the next five years must fix: irrational competition, “aggressive” designs put into vehicles without sufficient experimental validation, and safety events that drew public attention.

The four pillars

The plan rests on four pillars. First, product quality: support leading companies in raising power-battery low-temperature adaptability and durability and in improving autonomous-driving safety and reliability; advance the intelligent-connected-vehicle admission and road-test pilots and the “vehicle-road-cloud integration” pilots; and hold the line on quality. Second, supporting infrastructure: run trade-in and NEV-to-the-countryside programmes and the pilot to close charging gaps in counties, aiming for charging stations in every county and charging piles in every township; build out the vehicle-modification management regime; and optimise NEV insurance policy and lower repair costs so consumers are willing to buy and confident to use. Third, industry governance: reform the grouped management of vehicle-production qualifications, optimise industry layout, strengthen admission review of innovative designs and testing/validation management, and step up consistency inspections. Fourth, international cooperation: intensify coordination on international standards and regulations, improve cross-border logistics and financing support, and steadily advance trade and investment cooperation.

Battery recycling gets teeth

A notable new element is the battery end-of-life agenda. With a wave of battery retirements arriving, the authorities plan to draft dedicated administrative regulations, run joint departmental enforcement campaigns to standardise the recycling and reuse order, and implement a digital identity system for power batteries so that every battery is traceable “from source to destination”. The target is comprehensive utilisation of waste power batteries at or above one million tonnes per year by 2030. For companies in the recycling, second-life and materials businesses — including foreign investors — this signals a formalised, traceable regulatory regime rather than the current patchwork.

What it means for foreign auto players

For foreign carmakers and suppliers in China, the plan carries four practical signals. First, admission: the design-admission review and testing requirements will tighten, so product-development pipelines must budget more validation time and evidence before launch. Second, market support: the charging build-out and insurance/cost optimisation are designed to keep demand growth alive, protecting the commercial case for NEV investment. Third, governance: grouped production-qualification reform may create new structures for brands that license or assemble in China, worth modelling for restructuring decisions. Fourth, openness: the plan’s international-cooperation pillar — standards coordination, cross-border logistics and financing support — is consistent with China’s broader invitation to global players, and foreign brands participating in the pilots (intelligent connected admission, vehicle-road-cloud integration) will help shape the standards that later go national. Companies should also prepare for the battery traceability regime, which will affect warranty, recall and recycling obligations across the value chain.

The numbers behind the plan

The plan’s targets sit on a rapidly expanding base. In 2026, NEVs already account for the majority of monthly new-car sales — July 2026 data show NEVs above 60 per cent of new-vehicle sales for the month — and the first half of the year saw NEV penetration near 50 per cent of the market. Chinese-brand NEVs held a 24 per cent share of overseas markets in H1 2026, up 10 percentage points year on year, with the EU a leading contributor. On infrastructure, the charging build-out is accelerating: the plan’s “charging stations in every county, piles in every township” target follows the 2030 charging-infrastructure goals already set for the sector, and provincial players such as Fujian have begun publishing virtual-power-plant management rules that open new market participation for private and small-mid enterprises. On the standards side, the MIIT has been active: in August 2026 it opened public comment on a mandatory national standard for automotive cryptographic application technologies and on 50 communications-industry standards for vehicle-road-cloud systems — both signals that the technical rulebook for intelligent connected vehicles is being written now, and that foreign suppliers engaging in the standards process early will help shape it.

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中国智能网联新能源汽车”十五五”规划：质量为先，全域补能

发布会与规划

2026 年 8 月 26 日，在国新办”开局起步’十五五'”系列主题新闻发布会上，工业和信息化部副部长介绍了《智能网联新能源汽车产业发展”十五五”规划》。规划是行业 2026—2030 路线图，核心基调是质量优先于速度：”严禁未经充分测试验证的产品进入市场”。发布会认可了”十四五”成绩——新能源汽车年销量从 136.7 万辆增至 1649 万辆、新车销售占比从 5.4% 提高到 47.9%、整车与动力电池及关键材料产量占全球 70% 以上、产品远销 100 多个国家和地区——但也点出未来五年必须解决的问题：非理性竞争、未经充分实验验证就装车应用的”激进式”创新设计、以及引发社会关注的汽车质量与自动驾驶安全事件。

四大支柱

规划依托四大支柱。其一，产品供给质量：支持重点企业提升动力电池低温适应性与耐久性、提高自动驾驶安全性与可靠性；积极稳妥推进智能网联汽车准入和上路通行试点与”车路云一体化”试点；坚守产品质量底线。其二，配套使用环境：开展汽车以旧换新、新能源汽车下乡与县域充换电设施补短板试点，推动充电站”县县全覆盖”、充电桩”乡乡全覆盖”；建立健全汽车改装管理制度；优化新能源汽车车险政策、降低维修成本，让消费者愿意买、放心用。其三，行业治理：推进汽车企业生产资质集团化管理改革、优化产业布局，加强产品创新设计准入审查与测试验证管理，加大生产一致性监督检查力度。其四，国际合作：加大国际标准法规制定协调力度，完善跨境物流、投融资等配套支撑，稳步推进国际贸易和投资合作。

电池回收获监管加码

一个值得注意的新元素是电池退役议程。面对退役潮来临，主管部门计划研究起草相关行政法规、开展部门联合执法专项行动规范回收利用秩序，并实施动力电池数字身份证管理制度，实现”来源可溯、去向可查”。目标是到 2030 年废旧动力电池综合利用量达到百万吨级以上。对回收、梯次利用与材料企业——包括外国投资者——这预示一个正式化、可追溯的监管体系，而非当前的零散拼凑。

对外资车企的意义

对外国车企与供应商，规划传递四重实务信号。第一，准入：创新设计审查与测试要求将收紧，产品开发管线须在上市前预算更多验证时间与证据。第二，市场支撑：充电设施建设与车险/成本优化旨在维持需求增长，保护新能源投资商业逻辑。第三，治理：生产资质集团化管理改革可能为在华授权生产或组装品牌创造新结构，重组决策值得建模评估。第四，开放：规划的国际合作支柱——标准协调、跨境物流与融资支持——与中国欢迎全球参与者的整体姿态一致，参与试点（智能网联准入、车路云一体化）的外资品牌将共同塑造日后全国推广的标准。企业还应提前应对电池可追溯制度，其将影响价值链各环节的质保、召回与回收义务。

规划背后的数据

规划目标立在快速扩张的基数之上。2026 年，新能源汽车已占月度新车销售的大头——2026 年 7 月数据显示当月新能源车占新车销量超 60%——上半年渗透率接近五成。自主品牌新能源乘用车 2026 年上半年海外市场份额 24%、同比提升 10 个百分点，欧盟市场是主要贡献者。基础设施方面，充换电建设提速：规划”充电站县县全覆盖、充电桩乡乡全覆盖”目标承接行业已设定的 2030 年充电基础设施目标，福建等省份已出台虚拟电厂管理办法，为民营企业与中小微企业开放新的市场参与。标准端，工信部动作密集：2026 年 8 月就《汽车密码应用技术要求》强制性国标与 50 项车路云系统通信行业标准公开征求意见——两项信号表明智能网联汽车技术规则手册正在当下书写，尽早参与标准进程的外资供应商将共同塑造它。

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