The auto sector in China is poised for rapid expansion. As more and more residents in China arrive at middle class status，more will become first and second-time car buyers. This growth in the vehicle sector poses many challenges and opportunities for China’s government. Partially in response to these new challenges and partially to follow opportunities，China has included New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) as one of seven strategic industries under the 12th Five-Year Plan.　　Analysts，experts，and scholars tend to agree on three main motivations for China’s NEV policy:Environmental Protection (mitigating climate change and reducing urban air pollution)，Energy Security (decreased reliance on foreign oil) and Industrial Development (becoming a leader in NEV technology). However，the specifics of those motivations are often ignored and there is little mention of to what degree each motivation is responsible for the policy.　　Policies are formed because of both problems and solutions. In policy-making，problems and solutions are often looking for each other，and can be connected or disconnected from policies. Environmental Protection and Energy Security were found to be problems looking for solutions;Industrial Development was found to be a solution looking for a problem. It was also found that the problem of Environmental Protection was“disconnected”from the NEV policy，Energy Security was“connected”to the policy，and Industrial Development was“well-connected”to the policy.　　This thesis attempts to understand the motivations behind China’s NEV policy，analyzes the effect new energy vehicle adoption will have when considering these motivations，and describes the problem or solution and the policy itself. Empirical research and in-depth，semiformal interviews were conducted to analyze the impact that NEV adoption will have on these key goals.