China extends NEV purchase tax exemption worth 100 billion yuan

BEIJING: China will extend its exemption of new energy vehicles' from purchase taxes to the end of 2023, creating tax cuts worth a total of 100 billion yuan (RM66bil), state media Xinhua quoted cabinet meeting as saying on Friday.

In June, China’s central government had announced it was considering extending tax exemptions on new-energy car purchases in a bid to boost an auto sector battered by strict Covid lockdowns.

China's auto sales surged 29.7% in July from a year earlier to 2.42 million units, extending a recovery that began in June.

Sales for the first seven months, though, were still 2% lower than the corresponding period in 2021, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

Sales of new energy vehicles, which include pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, increased 120% in July from the previous year.