China promotes new-energy vehicles in drive to get economy back on track

Beijing promises to build more charging facilities and filling stations, and encourage the wider use of new-energy vehicles by government agencies

A pillar of China’s economy, car sales have begun to show signs of life after one of the worst years on record

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China is keen to promote new-energy vehicles as its car industry shows signs of recovery after a tough year. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:45pm, 10 Oct 2020Updated: 8:43pm, 10 Oct 2020

China has released details of a development plan for the new-energy vehicle industry as it seeks to shore up the world’s largest car market and revitalise an economy hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement published on Friday, the government said the focus of the plan was to unify the domestic market, improve industrial concentration and sharpen market competitiveness. That would include the construction of more charging facilities and filling stations for electricity- and hydrogen-powered cars, as well as the wider use of new-energy vehicles by government agencies, it said.

Also, by next year, at least 80 per cent of all public sector vehicles – including buses, taxis and municipal trucks – operating in ecological pilot zones and areas with high levels of air pollution would be driven by clean energy, it said.

Beijing has promised to build more charging facilities and filling stations for electricity- and hydrogen-powered cars. Photo: Reuters

While China’s economy as a whole is showing signs of bouncing back after the coronavirus epidemic – recent figures were bolstered by high levels of consumption during the recent National Day holiday – its car sector remains in the doldrums.

One of the major drivers of China’s economic recovery after the 2008 global financial crisis, the industry has struggled in recent years, with sales by volume falling 8.2 per cent in 2019 and 2.8 per cent the year before.

In February of this year, with much of the country in lockdown, car sales fell by more than 79 per cent year on year.