Beijing to build electric car charging network

Beijing plans to build 10,000 public charging poles for electric cars by 2017, the municipal government announced on Friday.

The charging poles will be installed in airports and train stations, public parking lots, parking lots of malls and supermarkets, highway rest areas, electric car stores and gas stations, according to an electric car promotion plan published by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

Zhang Jihong, deputy head of the commission, said that a network of charging devices for electric cars will be established within the fifth ring road of the city.

According to the plan, Beijing also plans to introduce private charging poles.

The Chinese government has been encouraging consumers to buy electric vehicles as one of the solutions to the country's pollution problems. But the plan has been hindered by a bottleneck in the charging infrastructure.