China is to end subsidies for electric and hybrid vehicles at the end of the year, authorities have announced, saying the strength of sales in the sector meant state support was no longer needed.
Purchase subsidies would be reduced by 30 percent from the beginning of this year before being scrapped completely by the end of the year, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Friday.
“Given the growth of the industry for vehicles with new energy, the sales trends and the smooth transition of manufacturers, the subsidies ... will end on December 31,” the ministry said. “Vehicles registered after December 31, 2022, will not be subsidized.”
Photo: Reuters
Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles have boomed in China, with annual increases of more than 100 percent in the past few months.
The vehicles are set to represent 18 percent of all vehicle sales this year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) estimated last week.
In 2019, they accounted for only 5 percent.
Of the 27.5 million vehicles set to be sold this year, 5 million would be electric and hybrids, CAAM said.
Overall growth in the world’s largest market for vehicles would likely come in at 3.1 percent for last year — the first year of sales growth since 2018, the association said.
China, the world’s largest polluter, has set ambitious goals for the widespread adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, and aims to have the majority of vehicles powered with clean energy by 2035.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address