Beijing to expand subsidies for alternative-fuel

Beijing may expand subsidies on alternative-fuel vehicles to manufacturers and builders of recharging stations for pure electric cars, after the State Council called for faster development of new energy cars. Xu Changming, director at the State Information Center, told China Business News that the government would study the scope of financially supporting the state grids to build infrastructure for recharging stations and that some carmakers could hope to get subsidies to develop the technology for new-energy cars. The government now subsidizes consumers up to 60,000 yuan (US$8,874) to buy a pure electric car and 3,000 yuan (US$443) to buy a hybrid. (September 10, 2010)