Photo taken on April 19, 2021, shows an AION Y, a new energy car produced by Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd, at the 19th International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2021) in Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

Sales of new energy vehicles are expected to account for 60 percent of the total automobile sales in China in a mild scenario or over 70 percent in an aggressive scenario by 2035, the Economic Information Daily reported on Wednesday.

The judgment is based on the 2021 Annual Report on Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle in China composed by the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

Reports say that by 2020 China had topped NEV sales in the world for seven consecutive years.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that in November the production and sale of NEVs reached 457,000 and 450,000 respectively, up 1.3 times and 1.2 times year-on-year. The production and sales figure for the first 11 months of 2021 were 3.02 million and 2.99 million respectively, up 1.7 times from the figure a year ago.

The report highlighted the importance of ensuring a steady supply of nickel, an important raw material for producing power batteries. In fact, even lithium and cobalt are required but rely heavily on import. A plan for sustainable material supply is an imperative development trend.

The battery sector's demand for nickel generated from ore is expected to rise by 500 percent or about 700,000 metric tons between 2020 and 2030, said Bao Wenjun, head of mining giant BHP's metal and mining market analysis department.