Expert: Urban planning crucial to the future of mobility

Carbon reduction will provide the major competitiveness for nations over the long term, said Pan Jiahua, director at Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, calling on both policymakers and entrepreneurs to pay attention to the issue.

"For automakers, the highly anticipated development of electric vehicles with zero emissions will eventually be the future of transportation," said Pan.

The Chinese government has taken a clear stand to develop electric vehicles. A draft industry plan expected to be approved later this year envisions that China will have 500,000 electric vehicles on the road in 2015.