New energy vehicles usher in the policy "big red envelope" The government work report mentioned three times, involving manufacturing, market and foreign investment access thresholds.

In the window of technological changes in the automotive industry, under the background of continuously deepening structural reforms on the supply side, how will the automobile industry develop in 2018?

On March 5, Premier Li Keqiang mentioned the automobile industry several times in the government work report, setting priorities for the development direction of the car this year. In particular, new energy vehicles were mentioned three times in the report, including the promotion of the development of new energy vehicles, the elimination of new energy vehicle purchase tax, the opening of new energy vehicle manufacturing, and so on. At the same time, a number of representatives of the two associations in the automotive industry put forward multiple proposals for the current status of development of new energy vehicles to further promote the high-quality development of new energy vehicles.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CLUCC National Committee, said that in this year's government work report, new energy vehicles have received continuous attention and are greatly beneficial to the development of new energy vehicles. This also highlights the importance of new technology revolutions such as new energy vehicles and intelligent networked cars in the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry.

The three major areas of new energy vehicles accelerate development

At present, the scale of production and sales of new energy vehicles in China is the world leader. It has continuously become the world's largest producer and sales volume of new energy vehicles in the past three years, and the cumulative production and sales volume has exceeded 1.8 million. Among them, in 2017, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 774,000 and 777,000 vehicles, respectively, an increase of 53.8% and 53.3% year-on-year, respectively, and the market share was 2.7%, an increase of 0.9% over the previous year. In January 2018, the sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 38,000 vehicles, an increase of 4.3 times year-on-year.

However, China's new energy automotive market is in a critical period of switching, from policy-driven to policy and market two-wheel drive conversion. Therefore, compared with last year, this year's government work report has significantly increased the emphasis on new energy vehicles. There are three references to new energy vehicles, including manufacturing, foreign capital entry thresholds, and market cultivation.

In terms of manufacturing, this year's government work report clearly stated that it is necessary to accelerate the building of strong manufacturing countries, promote the development of integrated circuits, fifth-generation mobile communications, aircraft engines, new energy vehicles, and new materials, implement major short-board equipment special projects, and develop industries. Internet platform, creating "China Made 2025" demonstration area.

In terms of market cultivation, the government work report proposes to strengthen the basic role of consumption in economic development. Promote consumption upgrades and develop new models for new consumerism. Extend the purchase tax incentives for new energy vehicles for another three years.

As early as 2015, the country began to implement exemption of vehicle purchase tax on new energy vehicles. At present, it has issued 16 batches of “new energy automobile models that are exempt from vehicle purchase tax”, and thousands of models have been selected for tax exemption. . At the end of last year, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the "Announcement on the Exemption of Purchase Taxes for New Energy Vehicles", clarifying that the purchase tax preferential policies for new energy vehicles will continue to be provided, from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020.

In terms of access thresholds, the government work report proposes to promote the steady growth of foreign investment. Strengthen the interconnection with international economic and trade rules and build a world-class business environment. Fully liberalize the general manufacturing industry and expand the fields of telecommunications, medical care, education, pension, and new energy vehicles.

In fact, letting go of access to new energy vehicles has always been of concern to the outside world. In November last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already released the news that China will start to liberalize foreign investment ratios for special vehicles and new energy vehicles within the scope of the Pilot Free Trade Zone by June 2018. At present, in order to accelerate the deployment of China's new energy vehicle market, BMW, Ford, and Volkswagen have all established new joint ventures in new energy vehicles in China.

The analysis pointed out that the government work report made a comprehensive reference to new energy vehicles, further clarified the attitude of encouraging the development of new energy vehicles, and will continue to enhance the development quality of China's new energy vehicles.

Multiple recommendations to achieve high quality development

However, although China's new energy vehicles are rapidly developing, they still face some bottlenecks and problems, including policies and regulations pending consolidation, local protection, breakthroughs in core technologies, and the construction of charging facilities is still unable to meet demand.

Zeng Qinghong, deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of GAC Group, said that to improve the system of regulations and policies to promote industrial development, the current policy and regulatory framework for new energy vehicle development has covered development planning, technology policies, access management, product development, and parts and components industries. Marketing network, investment management and other related fields, but the legal level is relatively low, the development organs are not the same, and are scattered. It is recommended that on this basis, formulate specific laws or administrative regulations for the new energy automobile industry so as to guide the relevant policies and regulations of different sectors and guide the rapid and healthy development of the new energy automobile industry in China. At the same time improve the double-integration policy and achieve "rewards and punish bad."

Wang Fengying, deputy to the National People's Congress and president of Great Wall Motors, also stated that as a strategic emerging industry in China, the development goal of the new energy automotive industry is not only to allow Chinese people to use high-quality new energy automotive products and enjoy high-quality services, but also to become a new national economy in China. The pillar industries have driven the healthy and sustainable development of the entire national economy.

To this end, Wang Fengying suggested that in the key period of the new energy automotive industry being driven from policy to policy and market driven by two wheels, it is necessary to establish a market environment with fair competition and standards, and to rationalize the development environment of the entire new energy automobile ecological chain. As for the factors that hinder the development of the new energy automobile industry, such as the continued prohibition of local protection, on the one hand, it is necessary to revise and improve the relevant policies and strengthen supervision and accountability; on the other hand, local governments need to change their administrative thinking, simplify government power, and adjust policies to focus on.

According to Xu Youyi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of Beijing Automobile Group, he proposed to set up a blueprint for the construction of dynamic planning and layout charging facilities, and set up a special joint coordination office to promote the construction of charging facilities; Accelerate the standardization of charge operation service fees and the back-end clearing system Unicom; provide policy support for new forms of charge and exchange of electricity, including venue approval and financial support.

Zeng Qinghong also stated that it is necessary to improve policy planning, coordinate the development plans for new energy vehicles and regulations for charging facilities, ensure coordinated development, accelerate the construction of fast-charged piles in public areas, actively promote the development of intercity fast-charge networks, and solve the anxiety surrounding pure-electric intercity travel. Promote the upgrading of power grids; guide property owners to participate in the construction of charging facilities; and encourage innovation in business models such as interoperability and network sharing, and strengthen operation and maintenance.

Increased voice of autopilot legislation

In the area of ​​intelligent network-linked vehicles that complements the development of new energy vehicles, with the accumulation of related technologies, autonomous vehicles have gradually exited the laboratories, but due to the current automobile road management regulations, some provisions cannot be adapted to their development needs. Therefore, compared with previous years, the representatives of the two associations this year also proposed to speed up the legislative work to seize the strategic high ground of the global automobile industry.

Zeng Qinghong suggested that, on the premise of ensuring safety, formulate provisional regulations for the management of autonomous vehicles, and regulate the issues related to the development of self-driving cars, including road tests, producer and seller responsibilities, consumer rights, and purchase insurance, for the purpose of automating driving in China. The development of the automobile industry creates a good legal space.

It is understood that the existing laws and regulations in China are respectively the “PRC Highway Law”, “PRC Road Traffic Safety Law” and “PRC Road Traffic Safety Law Implementation Regulations”. However, these laws and regulations are mainly based on the technical background of traditional automobiles. Many regulations cannot meet the needs of the development of self-driving cars. They even affect or hinder the testing, sales, and use of self-driving cars.

At present, although relevant domestic authorities have noticed the laws and regulations faced by autopilot, local regulatory documents have also been issued, such as “Beijing Municipal Government’s Guidance on Accelerating the Work of Autopilot Vehicle Road Testing (Trial)”. Regulations for the implementation of vehicle road test management (for trial implementation), “Shanghai Intelligent Network Road Test Management Regulations (Trial)”, etc., but all belong to the regulatory documents of the local government departments and are not part of the local government regulations.

In foreign countries, some mature automobile markets have successively introduced relevant laws and regulations. Among them, in 2017, the United States approved the Automated Driving Act to encourage the testing and research and development of self-driving cars; Germany amended the existing road traffic law and introduced the world's first ethical code for autonomous driving.

Li Yanhong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Baidu’s CEO, also suggested that autonomous driving technology is at an early stage of industrialization exploration. Whether policies and technological advances match will, to a certain extent, determine the industrial innovation speed and competitiveness. China urgently needs to intensify innovation in the policy area, including supporting enterprises to expand the auto-pilot open platform, build China's industrial competitiveness in the field of automated driving, accelerate research and introduce operating policies, and speed up self-driving cars from the national level. Industrialization lays a legal foundation; promotes intelligent road infrastructure planning and construction, and accelerates the transformation of a new urban traffic environment for self-driving cars.