Hangzhou, the host city of this year's G20 summit will encourage the use of new energy vehicles (NEVs) by exempting them from the current traffic restrictions in place, local authorities said Wednesday.
Ma Xiaohui, vice mayor of Hangzhou, said the current restrictions on the use of NEVs will be removed this year. Hangzhou has about 1.2 million vehicles in its urban districts. The city introduced a series of measures to ease traffic congestions in recent years. License plates ending in certain numbers have been restricted during morning and evening rush hours on workdays since October 2011.
Restrictions have also been placed on car purchases, but there have not been any restriction on the purchasing of the NEVs. To boost the popularization of the NEVs, the government of Hangzhou will build more new energy vehicle charging facilities.
A total of 22,131 new energy vehicles are running on the city's roads, ranking the third largest among Chinese cities, according to the city government. Hangzhou plans to put another 7,500 NEVs into service this year.
Meanwhile, all the city's buses in service will be replaced by NEVs by the end of the year. Hangzhou, a popular tourist city and capital of Zhejiang Province, will host this year's G20 summit in September.
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