Chinese tax cuts for more new-energy cars

BEIJING - China has announced a second wave of tax cuts for clean-energy cars, specifying 64 new energy-saving vehicles covered by the scheme.

The government has decided to halve vehicle taxes for buyers in these cases, in a bid to boost slow sales of green cars in the country. The fees for users of seven types of electric automobiles will be removed, according to a document jointly released by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration of Taxation on Tuesday.

At least 10 domestic auto producers such as Wuhu-based Chery and Yangzhou-based Yaxing feature on the list specified by the new policy, which took effect on Jan 1, 2012. Consumers who have bought the vehicles will get tax refunds, the ministry said.

The government first applied the policy in March, listing a first batch of eligible cars. At least 200 types of plug-in hybrid cars, pure electric cars and fuel cell vehicles were included.

The government has been vigorously promoting sales of new-energy cars through offering subsidies and reducing tax, but sales remains lukewarm.

Some 10,202 energy-saving and new-energy vehicles were sold in China during the first quarter of 2012, just a fraction of the 4.79 million vehicles sold overall in the period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.