BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will support pilot trials in some regions to ban sales of oil-fueled automobiles, and draft a general timetable for the whole country to rule out petrol cars based on experience of these regions, according to a document released on Tuesday by the ministry.
The ministry said in the document that it is working with relevant departments, such as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), to study the drafting of the future ban on traditional oil-fueled vehicles.
The study will take the actual pace of technological evolution and industry development into consideration, and comprehensively compare the market role and potential of petrol autos with those of new energy vehicles (NEV) in terms of technical cost, energy saving, emission reduction, and market demand.
As the document states, accelerating the development of energy-saving and new energy vehicles is necessary not only for alleviating energy and environmental pressures, but also for promoting the sustainable development of China's automobile industry and cultivating new economic growth points.
In fact, pilot trials have been gradually carried out in some regions across China.
South China's Hainan province has issued a development plan in March, which outlined roadmaps to achieve the goal of banning all sale of oil-fueled autos by 2030.
Back in 2016, Taiyuan city of Shanxi province has realized the full electrification of taxis. Early in this year, Shenzhen has also completed the electrification of taxis and buses. Guangzhou city of Guangdong province also proposed that by the end of 2022, the majority of the city's taxis will be new energy vehicles.
Analysts believe that if more cities are encouraged to implement similar measures, new energy vehicles will soon become the mainstream of China's auto market.
According to a report published by the Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation (iCET), a professional think tank in the areas of clean transportation, under the joint driving of market and policy instruments, China is expected to completely rule out traditional oil-fueled vehicles by 2050. (Edited by Li Wenxin, liwenxin@xinhua.org)
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