What’s new: China’s capital has vowed to increase the share of new-energy vehicles on the city’s roads as part of a five-year local traffic plan that foreshadows fewer restrictions on the purchase of passenger cars.
The plan is for the local NEV purchase quota to account for a greater share of Beijing’s total, though it will still cap the number of passenger cars at 5.8 million by 2025, according to the municipal government’s five-year plan (link in Chinese) for transportation development.
In the plan, published Saturday, the government pledged to shift the focus of its transportation policy from restrictions on the purchase of vehicles to limitations on how much they can be driven in the city, which has the highest rate of car ownership in the country.
Measures floated include rush-hour traffic controls and increasing public transportation.
The context: The capital city has for years limited the purchase of both petrol-powered passenger cars and NEVs through annual quotas designed to ease traffic and air pollution. At the end of 2020, Beijing had 5.3 million registered passenger cars on its roads.
The plan did not mention whether it will abolish purchase restrictions for passenger cars.
Related: Chinese EV-Makers’ Deliveries Plunge as Lockdowns Hit Dealers, Plants
Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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