A long, slow road

But the road to low emission, alternative fuel vehicles in China will be a long one. Wang Fengying, CEO of Great Wall Motor Company Limited, says the green car market is still in its infancy.

"The Chinese auto market is less than 20 years old. As for the green car, it's a completely new area. Domestic manufacturers and foreign companies, even the leading giants, are all facing technical problems to do with batteries, and battery charging."

"The Chinese market is very hopeful and I'm sure the green car is the right direction. But domestic automakers should remember the market is not mature. It's too early to say 'the era of green car or electric car has come,'" she said.

"I don't mean that domestic manufacturers should do nothing," Wang added. "We should invest, but carefully, particularly the smaller automakers."

High prices of green cars are deterring consumers. Just 300 of the market-leading Toyota Prius were sold in China last year. The Prius costs 300,000 yuan (43,924 U.S. dollars); more than twice the price of an ordinary family car.

Speaking at the 2010 Global Automotive Leaders Summit on April 24, Zhang Xiaoyu, honorary president of the China Association of Automobile Manufactures, said the Chinese auto market would take two decades to catch up in terms of technology, scale and volumes.

"Technology is the key issue. But only if the price is affordable will the time really come," he said.