Electric car rollout aims to reduce pollution

Beijing plans to deploy another 6,000 electric cars for government use this year amid the city's efforts to curb air pollution.

It follows the adoption of 1,300 electric cars for governmental leases last year, according to Xu Heyi, chairman of the board of directors of BAIC Motor Corp. The total fleet of 7,300 cars will provide services for 91 ministries and departments of the central government and 180 departments of the Beijing municipal government, Xu said.

Nationwide reform of government-owned vehicles has largely focused on subsidizing officials and boosting the transparency of transportation expenses, but Xu said Beijing was focusing on replacing government-owned cars with timeshare car rentals.