China’s central government, seeking to boost consumption in the post-pandemic period, is pushing provincial governments to subsidize sales of light trucks and small cars in rural areas.
Where conditions permit, local governments are being encouraged to subsidize rural residents’ purchases of trucks that weigh up to 3.5 tons and passenger vehicles with engine displacements up to 1.6 liters, according to a notice the State Council, China’s cabinet, posted on its website Thursday.
Local governments are also advised to roll out scrappage programs to encourage rural residents to ditch older vehicles with emissions standards that fall short of State 3 rules for new vehicles, according to the notice.
China’s State 3 environmental standards are equivalent to the Euro 3 emissions rules.
In the notice, the central government is also pressing cities that limit new-car sales to “optimize” restrictive policies and expand license plate quotas.
The notice and recommendations stem from a meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the State Council on Wednesday, according to the website.
They are the latest effort by Chinese government officials to spur consumer demand, following higher government outlays on construction and infrastructure projects, which has spurred a rise in commercial truck sales.