In light of China’s environmental and air pollution problems, sustainable development is becoming a top priority for Beijing. This week, Carnegie-Tsinghua’s Paul Haenle speaks with resident scholar Wang Tao about China’s burgeoning electric car industry. Wang explains why new energy vehicles are good for China and offers four policy recommendations for increasing their saturation of the Chinese market. He recommends opening China’s electric vehicle (EV) market to international automakers, prioritizing marketing EVs to commercial operations, building EV infrastructure, and shifting toward developing a self-sustaining EV business model. Finally, Wang argues the United States and China, as the two largest markets for energy, must cooperate to help promote acceptance of electric vehicles and reduce climate change.

Wang Tao

Wang Tao, an expert on climate and energy issues, runs a program at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy that examines China’s climate and energy policies, with particular attention to transportation and international climate negotiation.

Paul Haenle

Paul Haenle is the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served from June 2007 to June 2009 as the director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolian Affairs on the National Security Council staffs of former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.