The move reflects the government's drive to help ease the country's oil energy bottleneck and maintain a sustainable, environmentally friendly growth of the economy, said sources from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Air pollution in major cities has become a serious problem with tail gases from cars being a major contributor. The ministry has listed the commercialization of pollution-free electric vehicles as an important part of its scientific plan for the next few years.

Commercialization of electric vehicles, which are powered by both high-performance, low-cost batteries and a mix of cleaner burning fuels, is likely to be realized by the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05), according to Li Jian, director of the ministry's Department of High-Tech Development and Industrialization.

Also, patented technology will be developed to produce fuel cell-powered vehicles by that time, he added.

Electric vehicles, that produce much less or even zero pollution compared with conventional petrol- or diesel-powered vehicles, will be put into special transport service for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, said Li.

China first attached importance to electric vehicles in 1996 when the country staged an international seminar and exhibition on electric and clean-fueled vehicles.

The country has made a technology breakthrough in developing high-performance batteries. The Leitian Company in Shenzhen, for example, has developed a kind of lithium battery which can power a vehicle for a distance of 300 kilometres.

Li said the government encourages all domestic companies, regardless of their ownership, to take part in the production of electric vehicles or other low-pollution power sources.

Specific projects will be opened to bids, and those who win the bids will receive governmental funding.

He added that a new system for granting awards to companies that undertake such projects will be introduced to stimulate research, for example, rewarding technicians who come up with new ideas with options such as shareholding rights.

According to the ministry's information department, China has conducted technological exchanges involving electric vehicles with the United States, Germany, Japan, France and Italy, to help push domestic development of such vehicles.

China, which has to import oil to satisfy its growing demands for energy, relies on coal to provide 75 per cent of its energy requirements. Coal will continue to make up a large part of the country's energy supply for the foreseeable future, experts predict.

"Developing electric vehicles is significant in the effort to save oil energy, minimize air pollution, and to give an impetus to the development of the country's auto industry," said Li.

(China Daily April 2, 2002)