SHANGHAI — China's new energy vehicle (NEV) ownership reached 5.8 million units by late May, accounting for about half of the global total, an industry forum said.

The country's NEV sales reached 950,000 units in the first five months of 2021, 2.2 times that of the same period last year, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) at the ongoing 2021 China Auto Forum held in Shanghai.

The NEV market penetration rate has reached 8.7 percent, maintaining strong growth momentum, the data showed.

As of April, a total of 65,000 charging stations, 644 power swap stations, and 1.87 million charging piles had been built nationwide, covering 176 cities and more than 50,000 km of highways.

The growth rate of electric vehicle production and sales in the next five years is expected to remain above 40 percent, according to a forecast by the CAAM.