BYD has sold 300 taxis and 200 electric buses used in the southern city of Shenzhen, a center for business and technology near Hong Kong, according to Henry Li, general manager of its export division. BYD has invested heavily in research and has thousands of engineers working on battery and motor technology.

“We think our EV (electric vehicle) platform is one of the most advanced in the world, and our capability for mass production is quite high,’’ Li said.

But as for the rest of the industry, “there are not many manufacturers with really reliable or commercialized products,’’ he said.

Chinese leaders saw electric cars as a way to curb demand for imported oil, which they regard as a strategic danger, and to help transform China from a low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology.

“China has run up against the same technical obstacles as anyone else,’’ said Michael Dunne, president of Dunne & Co. Ltd., a Hong Kong-based industry researcher.

“They said: Hold on, maybe we shouldn’t marry ourselves to electrics just yet. Let’s look at the alternatives. Maybe we have to take an incremental approach, just like everyone else,’’ Dunne said.

Wary consumers have been put off by news reports of batteries in Chinese-made cars catching fire. A lack of charging stations is causing “range anxiety’’ — fears a car might run out of power, leaving the driver stranded.

Under the Communist Party’s latest five-year development plan for China’s economy, issued in 2011, the government has released guidelines for other industries but not for alternative vehicles — a possible sign officials have gone back to the drawing board.

Developers were encouraged last week by a Cabinet statement that repeated support for electric vehicles. But it also called for work on developing non-plug-in hybrids and energy-saving internal combustion engines.