Chargers for electric cars to be required

Hebei province will require newly-built residential communities to install electrical charging facilities in parking spaces and encourage older communities to follow suit, in a move to promote the use of new-energy vehicles and cut vehicle emissions.

The move was added to the province's regulation on the prevention and control of air pollution, which was approved on Wednesday at the closing ceremony of the fourth session of the 12th Hebei Provincial People's Congress.

According to the regulations, buses, taxis and vehicles used by governments and for sanitation and delivery in the province should first choose new-energy vehicles.

By last year, a total of 4,400 new-energy buses had been put into operation in Hebei, according to the Hebei Provincial Department of Transport.

More than 140 service areas along expressways have established charging stations, accounting for half of the province's service areas.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Hebei will add another 8,000 new-energy buses, which will equal 55 percent of the province's buses.

Langfang and Zhangjiakou have been chosen as pilot cities to promote new-energy taxis. The cities will each have at least 200 new-energy taxis by the end of 2020, officials say.

In December, Sanhe city in Langfang brought in 50 electric taxis and finished the construction of three charging stations.

"I would have bought an electric car if it was convenient to have it recharged," said Song Jiayue, a Sanhe resident who bought a gasoline-fueled car in December, adding that buying a new-energy car could have saved her a lot of money because of various subsidies for buying such vehicles.

But she gave up because the residential community where she lives doesn't have charging facilities.

To deal with the problem, the province will speed up construction of charging stations. By 2020, another 60 charging stations will be set up in 29 service areas along expressways in the province.

According to the Baoding Environmental Protection Bureau, motor vehicles contribute about 15 percent of PM2.5 - airborne particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns that can penetrate the lungs and harm health - during non-heating periods, second among all pollution sources.

Baoding was listed as the most polluted city last year.

In other seriously polluted cities in the province, such as Shijiazhuang and Langfang, the contribution of motor vehicles to PM2.5 is no less than 10 percent, according to the Hebei Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau.