To this end, there are two major initiatives in front of us. First, we should speed up technological progress and improve the performance of vehicles; second, we should control the total number of vehicles, or slow down the growth rate of vehicles.

According to domestic experts, cars today could be 20 percent more energy efficient. The fuel consumption of our automotive products is higher than the advanced international level by 9 percent to 16 percent. At present, there are about 100 million cars in China. There is still plenty of room for improvement

Over the past 10 years the average annual growth rate in China's automobile market was more than 20 percent. We now have massive traffic jams and gasoline crises. The hat of the "world's largest car consumer" worn by China is becoming heavy.

The excessive growth of vehicles will inevitably result in a competition for grain, land and energy. The government's attitude for automobile consumption should transform from policy stimulation to neutrality.

Of course, we must admit that although electric vehicles cannot play a major role in China's energy conservation in the near future, they are the future of automotive technology and major hope in the world.

We should have a positive attitude toward electric vehicles. At present, we must focus on the core technologies, and create better hardware and software environments for the future large-scale industrialization and application.

Electric vehicles will develop quickly when electricity becomes more affordable.

The author is a member of the Expert Committee of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. forum@ globaltimes.com.cn