Govt organs to buy more new energy vehicles

China unveiled a plan on Sunday encouraging government organs to buy more new energy vehicles, which has been hailed as a move to fight pollution and drive the slowly growing new energy car market.

From 2014 to 2016, new energy vehicles will account for no less than 30 percent of newly purchased cars in state organs, according to the plan jointly released by the National Government Offices Administration (NGOA), the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The plan also applies to government organs and public institutions in regions where controlling small particle emissions has become a challenging task in the fight against pollution, an NGOA spokesman said.

The number of new energy vehicles will account for at least 15 percent of new cars in 2014 for local government departments and public institutions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta.

The percentage will be raised year by year in government organs, public institutions and organizations that are wholly or partially supported by government funds, according to the spokesman.

To implement the plan, the central government promised to offer subsidies for new energy vehicles priced less than 180,000 yuan (29,000 U.S. dollars) and ordered local governments to build more facilities for the use of new energy vehicles.

The ratio of charging interfaces to new energy vehicles should be no less than 1:1. Government organs and public institutions will add new energy vehicle-only parking space. Preferential policies will be introduced in the car plate lottery and auction of new energy vehicles, according to the plan.