NINGBO, China/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China is expected to sell 80 million internal combustion engines annually in the next five years, in line with previous years, an engine industry association said on Thursday, amid a broader industry transformation toward electrification.
Internal combustion engines still dominate China’s auto industry and are also used in motorcycles, agricultural machinery, ships and power generators, according to the China Internal Combustion Engine Industry Association (CICEIA).
Xing Min, secretary general at CICEIA, said the industry expects engines to diversify sources of fuel to include gasoline, natural gas, methanol and more, and to improve thermal efficiency in the next five years to lower overall carbon emissions.
China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, is accelerating development of electric vehicles. Carbon dioxide emissions from China’s auto industry were expected to peak around 2028, and drop to 20% of peak levels by 2035.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in September announced plans to boost the country’s Paris climate accord target, saying that it would achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.
(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Tom Hogue and Gerry Doyle)
