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Kandy Wong

The Ministry of Finance will spend up to 20 billion yuan (HK$22.7 billion) over four years to support the manufacture and consumption of alternative-energy vehicles, a  ministry official said yesterday.
'The government will subsidise carmakers and implement tax concessions to customers who buy an environmentally friendly vehicle,'   Wang Baoan said at a vehicle conference in Chongqing.
'Public transportation, taxis and postal cars will be replaced with alternative-energy vehicles,'  he said. 'Chongqing will be the first city in the trial.'
Mr Wang did not disclose whether the 20 billion yuan is  part of the government's  4 trillion yuan stimulus package.
Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang said earlier this month in Tianjin that the central government  was going to launch a massive scheme for the promotion of green cars.
'For the remaining two years of the  11th five-year plan (2006-2010) and during the  12th five-year plan period (2011-2015), the Ministry of Science and Technology will proactively support carmakers to develop and commercialise alternative-energy vehicles,' said Mr Wan.
Industry sources said the ministries of finance, science and technology, industry and information technology,  along with the National Development and Reform Commission,  would jointly announce details of the subsidies and tax concessions by the end of this year.
'The government may announce cuts in corporate taxes and the consumption tax as the incentives to make and buy green cars,' the industry source said.
Car owners  must pay a 10 per cent consumption tax and a 17 per cent value-added tax when they buy a vehicle. Mainland media reported in May  the government was discussing the possibility of  cutting the  VAT  from 17 per cent in the second half to  reduce the cost of buying hybrid or diesel  cars.
Guangdong-based BYD  - 10 per cent owned by Warren Buffett  - will be the first mainland carmaker to launch  a plug-in hybrid, F3DM, in Shenzhen next month.
So far, SAIC Motor Corp, Dongfeng Motor and Great Wall Motor have said they  were going to develop electric vehicles. But none have disclosed a precise timeline for launching their zero-emission products or the scale of production.
Some other carmakers, including Anhui-based Chery Automobile and Chongqing's Changan Automobile, donated  hybrid vehicles during the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.
Carmakers such as Guangzhou Automotive Industry Corp and South Korea's Hyundai Motor  have suggested that Beijing  introduce substantial tax concessions as a way to encourage consumers to buy low-emission vehicles.
'Beijing should implement a fuel tax during this period of low international crude prices,' said Guangzhou Automotive chairman Zeng Qinghong. 'In addition, the government should think of reducing the consumption tax. This is an effective way to boost vehicle sales.'
Eco-friendly vehicles
Carmakers to get subsidies, buyers to be given tax incentives
The government has been considering reducing the VAT on green cars from: 17%



Beijing allots 20b yuan to push green cars