Hainan became China’s first province to ban the sale of fuel-powered vehicles

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Hainan plans to achieve the use of new energy vehicles across the island by 2030, becoming the first province in China to set a clear timeline for banning the sale of fuel-powered vehicles. As the \"first to try something new,\" Hainan Island has unique advantages in promoting new energy vehicles on a large scale, but the obstacles it faces cannot be ignored either. Today, as energy conservation, emission reduction, and green development have become the main themes, Hainan may trigger a domino effect across the country in the development of new energy vehicles. 　　On April 9, 2018, at the sub-forum on \"Island Economies along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road\" held as part of the Boao Forum for Asia, Shen Xiaoming, governor of Hainan Province, stated that the province plans to have all vehicles on the island run on new energy by 2030, and he outlined specific measures for achieving this goal: starting with government vehicles, then extending it to public service vehicles such as buses, taxis, and waste collection vehicles, and finally covering private cars as well. On April 14, the State Council issued the \"Guiding Opinions on Supporting Hainan in Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening Up\" (hereinafter referred to as the \"Opinions\"), which state that it is necessary to control the number of motor vehicles in a scientific and reasonable manner, accelerate the promotion of new energy vehicles and energy-saving vehicles, and gradually ban the sale of fuel-powered vehicles on Hainan Island. Thus, from calls for the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles to the State Council issuing guidelines to support this initiative, Hainan Province officially became the first province to announce a ban on the sale of fuel-powered vehicles, thus becoming the \"first to try something new\". 　　As the first province to voice opposition to the ban on fuel-powered vehicles, Hainan has its unique advantages. 　　1. With a small inland area and a concentrated population distribution, it is easier to promote the development of infrastructure for new energy vehicles. Hainan Island covers an area of 33,900 square kilometers and features a typical mountainous terrain with higher elevations in the center and lower elevations around the edges. The population is concentrated in certain areas; by the end of 2017, Hainan Province had a permanent population of 9.2576 million people, most of whom lived in plain areas such as Haikou and Sanya. This facilitates the priority deployment and construction of centralized public charging stations as well as decentralized charging piles in densely populated areas. 　　2. The tertiary industry accounts for a large share of the economy, while the automobile manufacturing sector has a limited contribution to the economy. Statistical data show that in 2017, Hainan Province’s gross regional product was 446.254 billion yuan, with the contributions of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries to this GDP accounting for 22.0%, 22.3%, and 55.7% respectively. As part of the manufacturing sector, the automobile industry accounts for a relatively small share in Hainan’s economy. This reduces the challenges associated with the subsequent widespread adoption of new energy vehicles on the island, thereby minimizing the impact that the decline in the traditional automobile industry could have on Hainan’s gross regional product. 　　3. The low base of vehicle ownership reduces the barriers to the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles. Data from the Haikou Bureau of Statistics show that by the end of 2017, the city had 772,500 civilian vehicles in total, of which 686,900 were private cars. 　　However, despite Hainan Province’s such advantages, the challenges encountered in its promotion also need to be given due attention. 　　1. The development progress of new energy vehicles and their supporting facilities needs to be accelerated. As of February 2018, there were 1,099 public charging stations in Hainan Province, while the number of new energy vehicles in that province was 15,000; the ratio between charging stations and vehicles was approximately 14:1 ； 2,881 decentralized charging stations. According to Hainan’s goals for the promotion of new energy vehicles during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, by 2020, Hainan aims to have more than 30,000 new energy vehicles in use, with over 28,000 charging stations to be installed. With less than 2 years left until 2020, the achievement rate for the target number of new energy vehicles in use is only 50%, while the completion rate for the construction of charging stations is merely 14.2%. 　　2. With the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles, vehicle fuel tax, which is one of Hainan’s key sources of revenue, will be significantly reduced. As early as 1994, Hainan was the first in the country to combine road maintenance fees, road usage fees, bridge tolls, and road transportation management fees into one charge, replacing them with a fuel surcharge for motor vehicles. Currently, gasoline in Hainan includes a vehicle usage surcharge of 1.05 yuan per liter, while diesel of grade 0 does not have such a surcharge. If fuel-powered vehicles are completely banned in the future, it remains to be determined where these taxes and fees will come from to make up for the loss. 　　Reform is a double-edged sword, and the promotion of new energy vehicles is no exception. After Hainan Province was the first to set a timeline for banning the sale of fuel-powered vehicles, a domino effect may emerge across the country. Although the development of new energy vehicles in China currently faces various obstacles such as limited range, inadequate supporting infrastructure, and uneven quality of products from different manufacturers, energy conservation, emission reduction, and green development are inevitable trends. Hainan’s proactive steps in this regard are bound to become a significant milestone in China’s efforts to promote new energy vehicles on a wide scale.