A national promotion campaign is hopeful to drive consumption surge of electrical vehicles (EVs) in China's rural areas, with the support of the rapid expansion of charging networks.

In Zunyi City of southwest China's Guizhou Province, five new EV brands set up shops at the Qianbei International Auto Mall in the first half of this year, boosting foot traffic to the mall by 20 percent.

In the six months, the mall registered a sales volume of nearly 1.5 billion yuan (about 209 million U.S. dollars), with EVs making up 45 percent of the total.

At the mall, more than 100 EV models are eligible for special offers related to the consumption promotion campaign, among which vehicles tailored to rural needs, such as SUVs and family multi-purpose vans, have been particularly popular.

"I have received up to 16 groups of customers a day. Our two test drive cars have run an average mileage of around 7,000 kilometers each," said Zhang Lin, a test driver of a car dealership at the mall.

The sales boom is mirrored in charging infrastructure development. Local power utilities have deployed managers specializing in private charger installation services at the mall to meet the surging demands from EV buyers and help them go through relevant procedures.

"In the past, I only needed to cover a few regular sites. But now, I may have to constantly shuttle around the entire auto mall," said Feng Yunwei, a Southern Power Grid client manager at the mall.

"In Zunyi, orders for high-power charging piles skyrocketed by over 150 percent in the first half of the year," said Zhu Xinke, director of charger delivery and installation services of JD Auto Guizhou.

The EV uptake and expanding charging networks have also fueled a new business form called all-electric camping, with local camping sites receiving flocks of EV owners on weekends.

"It's much easier to use electricity, very convenient," said Zhou Xiyu, an EV owner and camper.
The new trend is also boosting the rural outdoor equipment market.

"Our daily sales could hit 20,000 or 30,000 yuan (about 2,800 or 4,200 U.S. dollars) on peak days, which happens very often," said Mi Lan, an outdoor equipment shop owner.

Data from the National Energy Administration show that 119,000 public chargers were installed in China's rural areas from January to May, up 96.7 percent year on year.