Green vehicle incentives not enough to excite China consumers

New regulations concerning the reduction or even the full exemption of taxes for green vehicles and ships released by China’s State Council last week do not go far enough to sustain a push to broaden their use, experts say,

According to a report in Global Times, the General Office of the State Council said the tax on energy-saving cars and ships could either be fully lifted or reduced by half.

The regulation did not stipulate the specific vehicles and ships which could enjoy this preferential policy.

Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of China's National Passenger Car Association, told the news service that the sales of clean cars would not rise in the short term.

"The difficulties in promoting green autos do not mainly lie in the high taxes but immature clean technologies," Cui said.

He added that the majority of green vehicles today is still in the initial testing and research stage. The safety and performance of clean cars are major concerns for consumers.

China started a clean car promotion pilot project in 25 cities in July 2010. Those buying domestically made fully electric cars and hybrid vehicles could get a maximum of 60,000 yuan (USD8,900) in subsidy from the government. However, only around 1,000 people have purchased clean cars for private use in China to date, the Liaoning Daily reported.