China's central government launched a fraud investigation on Thursday of the new-energy vehicle sector, with the probe to cover government bodies, manufacturers and business customers, after industrial insiders warned of subsidy fraud.
China's finance minister said some new-energy vehicle producers have relied too much on government subsidies, noting subsidy-related fraud will be punished severely.
China will continue to roll out favorable policies to encourage the construction of new energy vehicle (NEV) charging facilities in 2016-2020.
Beijing will build more charging posts for electric cars in 2016.
China has amended its new energy vehicle charging standards with an emphasis on compatibility and safety, in hopes of accelerating facility construction and boosting development of the sector.
Beijing, bogged down in severe traffic congestion like many densely populated metropolitans around the world, has made a five-year plan from 2016 to 2020 in an aim to resolve the problem.
Despite the rocketing growth of electric vehicle ownership in China in the past two years, the lack of a matched boost in charging facilities and power supply have become a bottleneck restricting the future development of the industry.
China's motoring millions have so far had little truck with environmentally friendly cars that might help clear up the nation's polluted skies, much to the detriment of Toyota Motor Corp's lineup of hybrid cars, but that situation may soon change as some cities start offering incentives to buyers.
China is switching its focus in promoting new-energy vehicles from providing incentives to electric carmakers and buyers to giving subsidies for the construction and maintenance of charging facilities.
China will build more than 12,000 new charging stations before 2020 to fulfill the demands of over five million new energy vehicles.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection on Tuesday condemned provincial governments that fall behind in the campaign to remove high-emission vehicles from roads.
The Ministry of Commerce is formulating new car sales regulations that will focus on foreign companies' actions affecting the emerging parallel car imports sector.
China is promoting legislation in the auto industry to better protect fair competition in the world's largest car market.
car-hailing services are still under heated debate in china and their future is uncertain.
China will allow companies that do not make autos to produce new energy vehicles (NEV), said Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology on Thursday.
China is stepping up joint efforts to remove high-emission vehicles from roads.
Winfried Vahland, the newly appointed head of VW North America, quit unexpectedly on Wednesday, less than three weeks after he was appointed to the post amid the diesel-emissions scandal.
China's environmental and quality watchdogs have required Volkswagen to release timely updates on the recall of imported diesel vehicles in the wake of the emissions scandal.
China will build a network of 12,000 charging stations to meet the power demands of 5 million electric vehicles by 2020.
The first draft of an antitrust guideline for the automobile sector is expected to be finished at the end of October.