An employee assembles an electric car along a production line at a factory in Qingzhou, Shandong province, China, October 31, 2015. REUTERS/China Daily

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s production and sale of electric cars will more than double this year, the industry minister said on Sunday.

More than 300,000 electric cars were sold in China last year, Miao Wei, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament on Sunday.

The reliability, mileage and lifespan of electric batteries needs improvement and China needs to speed up the installation of electric car charging stations, Miao said.