Chinese province plans ban on sale of petrol and diesel cars

Hainan island in the South China Sea has said it will become the first region in China to ban sales of petrol- and diesel-powered cars to curb climate-changing carbon emissions.

Sales of fossil fuel-powered cars will be banned by 2030 and electric vehicles promoted with tax breaks and by expanding the charging network, the Hainan provincial government said in a Carbon Peak Implementation Plan.

The announcement comes as China struggles through its hottest, driest summer in decades, which has wilted crops and shrunk rivers and reservoirs used for generating hydropower.

“By 2030, the whole province will ban sales of fuelled vehicles,” according to the plan.

A deputy Chinese industry minister said in September 2017 that Beijing was working on a plan to stop making and selling petrol- and diesel-powered cars, but the government has yet to release details.

Hainan aims to have electric vehicles account for 45% of its vehicles by 2030, the plan said. It said cities will develop “zero-emissions zones” where fossil fuel-powered vehicles will be banned.

The ruling Communist Party is promoting electric cars to help clean up China’s smog-choked cities and gain an early lead in a growing industry. China accounted for more than half of last year’s global electric car sales.