China to further promote automobile consumption

BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- China will further stabilize and expand the consumption of automobiles, according to measures released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Friday.

The measures were mapped out also for optimizing the purchase, use, management and market of automobiles, and for promoting the sustainable development of the new energy vehicles (NEVs) industry.

Cities with automobile purchase restrictions are encouraged to increase annual quotas, while the scrapping of vehicles not up to emission standards will be accelerated, the commission said.

The measures will also encourage the exit and trade-in of obsolete cars, and facilitate the trade and registration of used vehicles.

More pilot projects will be implemented in the utility vehicles sector, and more charging infrastructure will be built at bus stations.

Meanwhile, the NDRC said more efforts will be invested in lowering the cost of buying and using NEVs, such as adjusting NEV-related electricity prices.

More credit support, like insurance for charging piles, will be provided, while parking issues will be solved through increasing parking lots and the regulating of fees, it added.