• Bodies of electric cars are arranged inside a factory in Weihai, Shandong Province.

Bodies of electric cars are arranged inside a factory in Weihai, Shandong Province. (Photo : Reuters)

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released an online statement last week to announce an approximate total of 42,800 buyers who were not required to pay the official 10-percent purchase tax on their new-energy vehicle because of a new governmental policy that was introduced in September of last year.

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The progress update forms part of the outcomes sought by the east Asian economic giant, as pro-conservation initiatives are a key component of its slowed down activity during President Xi Jinping's "new normal."

Following the attainment of China's reputation for extreme levels of air pollution--especially in the capital city of Beijing--officials have been diligently exploring policy actions and infrastructure projects to improve the country's environmental conditions.

New-energy vehicles, which are also prominent in other parts of the world, have been identified as an integral component of the reform process, and the installment of public charging stations accompanies retail support like the purchase-tax exemption.

Out of 377 models, three types of new-energy-vehicle models from 57 manufacturers have been selected by the ministry for the exemption program.

Of the 42,800 consumers who became new-energy vehicle owners between Sept. 2014 and Jan. 2015, 36,600 purchased passenger vehicles and 6,207 bought commercial vehicles without paying the purchase tax.

At the time of inception, the exemption policy, which targets pure-electric cars, plug-in hybrid-electric cars and fuel-cell cars, is made active until the end of 2017.

The Year of the Sheep is expected to be a major step forward for China's new-energy vehicle industry, especially purely electric models, due to the ongoing enhancement of the charging network.