China became the largest car producer a decade ago, set to overtake the USA as the world’s biggest oil importer in 2017. New passenger vehicle sales in China will exceed 25 million per annum in 2017 [1]; in September 2017 alone, sales of vehicles in China reached 2,709,000 units, up 5.7% year on September 2016. Increased vehicle production and sales meet exponential growth expectations within the car industry, but the increased emissions from road transport will also have wellquantified impacts on urban air quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China [2]. Traffic emissions have become incompatible with Chinese policies on climate change and the protection of human health. This unsustainable model results in real world emissions higher than the regulated emission factors [3], high energy usage and low utilization [4], exacerbating air quality problems in cities like Beijing. Urban air pollution has significant consequence for human health today; in 2013 premature deaths due to air pollution cost the global economy an estimated $225 billion in lost labour income, and $5.11 trillion in welfare losses worldwide, equivalent to the gross domestic product of India, Canada, and Mexico combined [5]. China alone lost ~ 10% of its GDP in 2013 as a result of air pollution according to this World Bank study. If car ownership follows the Western model, there will be 10 billion cars in China by 2100 [6]. Environmental protection and economic growth ambitions have promoted the electrification of urban transport in China, attempting to de-couple transport from urban emissions. Since the 2000s, the Chinese Government championed a national strategy for clean vehicles that is distinct from the Western model, primarily to address urban pollution [7]. At the same time, around the world, fossil fuels are increasingly seen as an investment liability, prompting significant investment shifts into decarbonised clean energy. Several national and local policies in China encouraged the development of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) which are based on battery technologies, and other non-combustion technologies such as fuel cells (FCs), which can improve battery performance and lifetimes [8]. NEVs are essential for China to meet international climate change obligations GHG emission reduction targets, which are reviewed every 5 years under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [9]. As a result, Chinese incentives for FC vehicles (FCVs) currently extend beyond those offered for battery NEVs. This paper reviews the background to NEV policies, and the key scientific and market challenges that need to be addressed to accelerate FCs in the rapidly developing NEV market. The global significance of the Chinese market, key players, core FC technologies and future research priorities are discussed.