Beijing offers cash subsidies to spur demand for new energy cars

CHINA’S capital city is offering subsidies for purchases of new-energy vehicles to replace old cars, the latest attempt by local authorities to boost consumption in a slowing economy. 

The financial aid provided by the city of Beijing ranges from 8,000 yuan (S$1,662) to 10,000 yuan for qualified buyers who scrap or resell cars owned for more than a year, among other conditions, the local commerce bureau said in a statement on Sunday (Jun 26).

The capital city’s move follows similar measures announced by Shanghai late last month that also involved raising a cap on car ownership and cutting a purchase tax for some passenger vehicles. Passenger vehicle sales in China slid 17 per cent in May from a year earlier, and not a single new car was sold in Shanghai in April as the virus gripped the city.

China’s central government is considering extending tax exemptions on new-energy car purchases in a bid to boost a car sector battered by strict Covid lockdowns, state television reported on Wednesday, citing a Cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. BLOOMBERG