China's Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology have jointly issued a provisional measure on the management of government subsidies for energy-saving and alternative energy automobiles.

 

The measure details the objective and standards related to the subsidies to be given to the buyers of such vehicles. It says that purchases battery powered buses which are powered more than 50% by electricity will receive a subsidy CNY600,000 per bus in subsidy, this is said to be the highest subsidy offered.

 

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance and MOST decided to promote the use of energy-saving automobiles in 13 Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai on a trial basis to encourage the adoption of alternative energy automobiles in such fields as public transportation, taxis, and postal and public service vehicles by offering subsidies to units that purchase this kind of vehicle.

 

The Ministry of Finance says that the central finance authority will arrange part of the subsidy from the energy saving and emission reduction special fund to support the nation's generalization of energy-saving and alternative energy vehicles.

 

The vehicles to receive the subsidy include hybrid vehicles, electric cars and fuel-cell powered cars. It is reported that each hybrid vehicle will receive up to CNY50,000 in subsidies, electric cars CNY60,000 and fuel-cell powered cars CNY250,000.