Interpretation on further adjustment and improvement of the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles

In order to support the high-quality development of the new energy vehicle industry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Development and Reform Commission have further adjusted and improved the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles. The relevant contents are described as follows:

I. Considerations on Adjusting and Improving Financial Subsidy Policies

According to the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, since 2009, the central finance has begun to vigorously support the promotion and application of new energy vehicles. With the joint efforts of all parties, the scale of production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country has grown rapidly. In 2018, production and sales reached 1.27 million and 1.256 million, a year-on-year increase of 59.9% and 61.7% respectively. The technical level of the complete vehicle and key components of new energy vehicles has been significantly improved, and the overall competitiveness of the industry has been significantly improved. It has entered the growth period from the initial stage, the social recognition of the product has been significantly improved, the industrial scale effect has emerged, and the cost of power batteries and complete vehicles has increased significantly. decline.

With the rapid expansion of the scale of the new energy vehicle industry, some new situations and new problems have emerged in the process of industrial development: First, the long-term implementation of subsidy policies has led to the formation of "subsidy dependence" in some enterprises, and the industry's competitiveness is not strong. Second, the consumer application environment still needs to be improved. In some places, the investment in the use link is insufficient, and the supporting infrastructure such as charging is not perfect, which has become a key factor restricting the development of the industry. Third, local protection still exists, which is not conducive to the formation of a unified and fair competition environment, and is not conducive to promoting the industry to become bigger and stronger. Fourth, with the rapid growth of the ownership and the increasing frequency of vehicle use, the safety risks of new energy vehicle products are increasing, and it is urgent to strengthen safety supervision to ensure the safe development of the industry.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated that the focus of economic development must be placed on the real economy, improving the quality of the supply system as the main direction of attack, accelerating the construction of a strong manufacturing country, and accelerating the development of advanced manufacturing industries. At present, my country's new energy vehicle industry is at a critical stage of overcoming difficulties and climbing the threshold. It should accelerate the transformation from pursuing development quantity to focusing on improving development quality and efficiency.

Fiscal policy has a positive guiding and leveraging effect on promoting the innovation and development of the new energy vehicle industry. Since 2016, with the approval of the State Council, four ministries and commissions have established a dynamic adjustment mechanism for the subsidy policy of new energy vehicles. The basis for judging whether the policy is adjusted mainly includes technological progress, cost changes, and domestic and foreign industrial development. Practice has proved that the dynamic adjustment mechanism of subsidy policy can actively promote my country's new energy automobile industry to become better, stronger and bigger, enhance competitiveness, and achieve high-quality development of the industry.

2. About the process of adjusting and improving the subsidy policy

In the process of adjusting and improving the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles, we have carried out a comprehensive and in-depth research and analysis on the product technology and cost of mainstream enterprises at home and abroad, and forecast the future development trend. On this basis, a policy adjustment plan was drafted and further revised and improved after soliciting opinions from industry experts and enterprises.

From March to October 2018, an in-depth systematic investigation was carried out on the development of domestic and foreign industries, and the future development trends of international and domestic industries were predicted. On this basis, a preliminary plan for subsidy policy adjustment was drafted.

From November 2018 to January 2019, the opinions of industry experts and enterprises were widely solicited. Among them, in November 2018, he participated in the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference fortnightly consultation on new energy vehicles, and listened to the opinions and suggestions of relevant members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and representatives of enterprises. In December 2018, the four ministries and commissions jointly went to Shanghai for field research and held a symposium to listen to the opinions of enterprise representatives. On January 8, 2019, the four ministries and commissions jointly held a symposium on the adjustment of new energy vehicle subsidy policies to solicit opinions from relevant enterprises, institutions and industry experts.

In January 2019, a third-party agency was commissioned to independently evaluate the subsidy policy adjustment plan.

3. Ideas and main measures for this policy adjustment

The main idea of ​​this policy adjustment is: in accordance with the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference, give play to the basic and guiding role of the subsidy policy, and realize the strategic transformation of the new energy automobile industry. Through precise policy implementation and system adjustment, we will focus on supporting the industrialization of advantageous products and core technologies to form an economic growth point led by technological innovation. The main measures are:

First, moderately optimize technical indicators and adhere to "support the excellent and the strong". In accordance with the principles of advanced technology, reliable quality, and guaranteed safety, the upper limit of technical indicators will not be adjusted to prevent enterprises from blindly pursuing high indicators and ignoring safety. At the same time, the current subsidy indicator system will be further simplified to provide a more relaxed policy environment for enterprises to develop products.

The second is to increase the intensity of slope retreat and release the pressure in stages. According to the institutional arrangement for the withdrawal of subsidies after 2020, in order to make the transition of the new energy vehicle industry smooth, the practice of releasing adjustment pressure in stages is adopted, that is, the subsidy standard in 2019 will be reduced by an average of 50% on the basis of 2018, and will be reduced by the end of 2020. in place. This decline ratio is basically in line with the current reduction in the overall vehicle cost.

The third is to optimize the liquidation system to ease the financial pressure of enterprises. The current policy stipulates that operating vehicles must meet the mileage of 20,000 kilometers to apply for subsidy settlement. Some enterprises reported that the liquidation time was long and the pressure of capital occupation was high. In order to alleviate the financial pressure of enterprises, the new policy stipulates that starting from 2019, for vehicles with operating mileage requirements, a part of the funds will be pre-allocated after they are sold and listed, and they will be liquidated after 20,000 kilometers.

The fourth is to set up a policy transition period to ensure a smooth transition of the industry. Considering the cycle of technological transformation and upgrading of new energy vehicles, it will take a certain amount of time to digest inventory products. In order to avoid a major impact on the production and sales of enterprises, a policy transition period will continue to be set. During the transition period, the subsidy standard will be appropriately reduced.

Fifth, strengthen the role of non-subsidy policies and encourage the consumption of new energy vehicles. The non-subsidy measures introduced by local governments, such as unlimited driving, exemption from purchase restrictions and licensing convenience, have played an important role in expanding the consumption of new energy vehicles. In response to the situation where the above measures are linked to the recommended model catalog in some places, in order to encourage the consumption of new energy vehicles, starting from 2019, the new policy stipulates that products that meet the requirements of the automobile product announcement but do not meet the technical subsidy threshold are included in the recommended model catalog.

Sixth, create a fair environment and cancel local car purchase subsidies. Require local governments to improve policies from 2019, no longer grant purchase subsidies for new energy vehicles (except buses and fuel cell vehicles) after the transition period, and focus purchase subsidies to support infrastructure such as charging (hydrogenation) "short-boards" "Construction and supporting operation services.

Seventh, strengthen product quality supervision and improve product comprehensive performance. To further improve product quality and safety, the new policy stipulates that a normal mechanism for product safety monitoring and "consistency" sampling will be established. For models that have major safety accidents due to product quality or are identified by relevant departments as having major quality defects, the catalog of recommended models will be suspended or canceled, and financial subsidies will be suspended or canceled accordingly.

4. Considerations on support policies for fuel cell vehicles and new energy buses

In order to accelerate the development of the fuel cell vehicle industry and further promote the transformation, upgrading and development of the bus industry, the Ministry of Finance and other departments are currently studying policies and measures to support fuel cell vehicles and accelerate the promotion of new energy buses, which will be released separately after being submitted for approval according to procedures.