HAIKOU, July 14 (Xinhua) -- South China's island province of Hainan has set the goal of banning the sale of combustion-engine cars by 2030, taking the lead in the country's transition toward new energy vehicles (NEVs).
By 2030, all newly added and replaced private vehicles, as well as all new and replacement vehicles in public service and commercial operation in Hainan, must be NEVs, with the exception of special-purpose vehicles, according to the province's 2026-2030 plan for building a national demonstration zone for ecological civilization.
It is estimated that by that time, the share of NEVs in Hainan's total vehicle fleet will rise from 23.75 percent in 2025 to 45 percent. The province will also improve its charging infrastructure network, with the vehicle-to-charging-pile ratio kept below 2.5 to 1, said the recently issued plan.
Hainan in 2018 first proposed the goal of banning the sale of fuel cars by 2030, becoming the first Chinese provincial-level region to announce such a target. The latest plan reiterated that the province is steadily pushing forward in its pursuit of this goal.
The plan has sparked discussions online as the latest confirmation of China's dedication to carbon reduction and NEVs at a time when some in the West have backpedaled on green policies. Late last year, the European Commission announced plans to relax its effective ban on new combustion-engine cars from 2035, marking a notable retreat.
Hainan has several natural advantages for promoting NEVs. Its clean energy share is expected to hit 80 percent by 2030, anchored by nuclear and gas power. Its island geography makes planning and management easier, while the warm climate with small temperature variations improves NEV efficiency. Furthermore, the competitive policy framework of the Hainan Free Trade Port will give a further boost to NEV development, said Yu Huan, deputy director of the NEV development and supervision division of Hainan's department of industry and information technology.
As of October 2025, the NEV penetration rate in Hainan had reached 67.14 percent, meaning that two out of every three newly registered vehicles in this island province were NEVs. Over the past five years, the province ranked first and second nationwide, respectively, in terms of NEV market penetration and the NEV share of total vehicle ownership, the department revealed.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NEV production totaled over 16.52 million units in China last year, marking a 25.1-percent increase from a year earlier. By the end of 2025, the number of NEVs in use in the country had reached 43.97 million, a rise of 12.57 million from the 2024 figure.
The rapid transition toward NEVs in Hainan is underpinned by the province's shift in energy structure. At the end of June 2026, Hainan's installed capacity of new energy, mainly from photovoltaic and wind power, had accounted for 50.1 percent of its total installed capacity.
In its 2026-2030 plan, Hainan has promised efforts to scale up offshore wind power, explore integrated wind-solar projects, and build a number of offshore photovoltaic demonstration projects, all to ensure that incremental electricity demand will be met primarily by clean energy.
Hainan is going all out to develop NEVs -- a move driven by its mission to build a national pilot zone for ecological civilization, as well as its own needs for economic growth and industrial transformation. The province's ecological environment is its most valuable resource, and cutting vehicle emissions is key to protecting it, Yu said.
China unveiled its new Nationally Determined Contributions last September, setting ambitious goals for 2035. These include reducing economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels, increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 percent, and expanding the installed capacity of wind and solar power to more than six times the 2020 levels. Enditem
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