While Japan's EV market share remained paltry, BYD's move has attracted much media coverage in the country, with some seeing the company's potential as a catalyst to electrify the mass market.

As curbs eased over the years, issuances grew gradually and peaked in 2016 at 130 billion yuan, up from a paltry 13 billion yuan in 2015 and just 2 billion yuan in 2014, according to Wind Info, a Shanghai-based market data provider.