China's State Council Information Office will hold a briefing at 10 am Beijing time on June 21 on promoting the development of the NEV industry.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
China is expected to introduce policy initiatives to promote the "high-quality development" of the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry in recent days, local media China Securities Journal said in a report today.
The report did not mention details about the possible policies.
A notice posted on the website of China's State Council Information Office today shows it will hold a regular briefing at 10 am Beijing time on Wednesday, June 21, to introduce the promotion of "high-quality development" of the NEV industry and answer reporters' questions.
China's current policy to support the NEV industry is mainly the exemption of purchase tax.
In order to support the development of energy-efficient vehicles, China first started to exempt NEVs from purchase tax in 2014.
The policy originally expired at the end of 2017, but was renewed before its expiration until the end of 2020. In March 2020, China renewed the policy again until the end of 2022.
On September 26, 2022, several Chinese government departments announced in an official announcement that the purchase tax exemption for NEVs would continue until the end of 2023.
On June 2, a Bloomberg report said that China was considering extending the tax exemption for cheaper NEVs for another four years.
One of those measures could be extending the purchase tax exemption for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that cost less than 300,000 yuan ($42,910), according to the Bloomberg report.
Hours after that Bloomberg report was published, state broadcaster CCTV reported that a State Council meeting mentioned that China would extend and optimize the vehicle purchase tax exemption for NEVs.
The upcoming press conference on June 21 may be related to the extension of the NEV purchase tax exemption policy.
Before this year, China also offered state subsidies for NEV purchases, and they were not renewed when they expired at the end of last year, although some local governments have offered subsidies to local residents for their purchases from time to time.
Following the withdrawal of state subsidies, growth in China's NEV industry has slowed significantly so far this year.
From January to May, retail sales of NEVs in China were 2.42 million units, up 41.45 percent year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). For comparison, the growth rate for the same period last year was 117.21 percent.
($1 = RMB 7.1580)
China to extend and optimize NEV purchase tax exemption policy, says State Council meeting
