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China may give electric cars, hybrids $15b jump start

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-04 13:54
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China may invest more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in alternative-energy vehicles during the next 10 years to boost the industry, the Shanghai Securities News said.

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The spending is included in a draft plan for 2011 to 2020 that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology may submit this month to the State Council for approval, after seeking feedback from other ministries, the newspaper reported today, without saying where it got the information.

"The scheme appears to be a very concrete and detailed one," Yu Bing, an auto analyst at Ping An Securities Co, said by phone from Shanghai. "We expect more supporting policies including subsidies, tax breaks and preferential loans will come out afterward. The move will attract consumers for green vehicles and boost sales."

Automakers including Toyota Motor Corp, General Motors Co and Warren Buffett-backed BYD Co plan to increase output of alternative energy-powered vehicles to meet demand in China, the world's biggest auto market. China already subsidizes purchases of energy-efficient cars to help cut emissions, potentially increasing sales of the vehicles by more than 400 billion yuan, the government said in June.

China aims to become the world's largest market for renewable-energy vehicles by 2020, according to today's Shanghai Securities News report. The industry ministry didn't immediately reply to a fax seeking comment on the report.

Anhui Jianghuai

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co surged in trading today after announcing it had formed a venture to develop alternative- energy cars. The shares jumped as much as 10 percent to 9.66 yuan, the biggest intraday gain since July 2009, and traded at 9.39 yuan as of 10:42 am in Shanghai.

The state may subsidize purchases of at least 4 million energy-efficient vehicles by 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission said June 3.

On a trial basis since June, the country is also giving out as much as 50,000 yuan toward the purchase of plug-in hybrid models and up to 60,000 yuan in the cities of Shanghai, Changchun, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Hefei for vehicles that run only on batteries.

China, which became the world's biggest auto market last year, aims to increase annual production capacity of alternative-energy vehicles to 500,000 by next year as part of efforts to cut oil imports and rein in pollution.