China's new energy vehicle subsidies in 2021 will be backed down by 20% compared to 2020, four ministries, including China's Ministry of Finance, said in a document released today.

For vehicles that meet the requirements in the fields of city buses, road passenger transport, cabs, sanitation vehicles, urban logistics and distribution vehicles, postal and express delivery, civil aviation, and airports, the subsidy will be slashed by 10% on the basis of 2020 in order to promote the electrification of vehicles in public transport and other fields, the document said.

To accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the public transport industry, local governments can continue to give subsidies for the purchase of new energy buses.

In 2021, China's new energy vehicle test method standards will be updated. Before the release and implementation of the new standards, products tested according to the old standards can enjoy subsidies as long as they meet the technical threshold requirements of the subsidy policy.

The document also encourages car companies to actively carry out defect investigations and active recalls. If they know that their products have quality problems and do not take the initiative to recall them, causing major accidents, or if they are ordered to recall by the regulatory authorities, they may face penalties such as suspension or cancellation of financial subsidies.

China will also improve the new energy passenger car credit points trading policy and accelerate the study of a new energy commercial vehicle credit points trading system.

The document also mentions that it will encourage mergers and reorganization of enterprises to curb the chaos of blind investment and illegal construction of new energy vehicles, in order to promote the industry to the regions and enterprises with sufficient capacity utilization, perfect supporting systems and obvious competitive advantages.

New energy passenger cars and commercial vehicle enterprises should declare a single acquisition subsidy to clear the number of vehicles to 10,000 and 1,000 respectively, the document said.