The global car factory sees the prospect of electric cars and focuses on China, according to U.S. media. With the country investing heavily in car-charging piles and research and pushing for the development of battery-powered vehicles, several major automotive giants have turned their main research and design efforts into China.

The New York Times website reported September 11 that China re-emphasized the idea over the weekend, announcing it would eventually ban sales of petrol and diesel-powered cars, but did not disclose the time.

From high-speed rail to wind turbines, China has been urging U.S., European and Japanese companies to share their technical knowledge in exchange for access to this potentially huge new market, the report said. China also wants to share the knowledge of electric vehicles.

Western companies say they know the risks of technology transfer-but there are also opportunities for them to achieve their electric car ambitions more quickly. "We are in a process of learning together with them," said Heitzmann, chief executive of Volkswagen China. "The pace of this process is much faster than when we used to do this kind of work." In our usual practice, it is impossible to market next year. ”

At the weekend, Chinese officials said at a major annual automotive technology Symposium that they would introduce policies to help new energy vehicles gain more foreign investment, a glimmer of hope for foreign carmakers ' executives.

"We have no qualms about the amount of IP we need to share," said 马特·钱, president of GM China, who said IP was intellectual property.

GM and its partner, SAIC, have launched a combination of advanced hybrid cars such as the Chevrolet Volt, which GM brought to China last spring as a Buick Velite, the report said. Hybrids such as the Volt can either use batteries or use petrol as a driving force.