The Chinese government's handling of its two most important annual political meetings in Beijing this week may offer some clues on how major auto shows will be staged in coming months. 

The coronavirus pandemic is upending automakers in China, where sales are on track to fall for a third-straight year, while also paving the way for consolidation in the country’s highly fragmented passenger vehicle manufacturing sector. 

After pledging last month to extend subsidies for electrified vehicles for two more years, Beijing last week disclosed it will cut the subsidies by 10 percent this year, 20 percent in 2021 and 30 percent in 2022. The latest reductions were expected since the government still wants to wind down the program at the end of 2022. But there is something brand new in Beijing’s latest policy proposal: For the first time, the government has singled out battery swaps for support. 

Beijing, hoping to help the electrified-vehicle sector pull through the coronavirus outbreak, is extending subsidies for full-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids for two more years. But will the lingering impact of smaller subsidies, depressed oil prices and a glut of carbon credits under a new government program stymie efforts to spur EV demand?