As China’s economy slows under the weight of trade tensions with the US, the State Council has said that areas with restricted car purchases should consider gradually relaxing them.
Even in cities that limited car registrations to control air pollution, local governments should allow sales of used cars that met the government’s minimum emission standards, the State Council said.
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The call came as part of a series of measures to try to boost China’s consumer spending and focus exporters on the domestic market. In a policy document published this week, the State Council, effectively China’s cabinet, listed a number of measures to help improve domestic consumption and kick-start the sluggish economy.
The State Council also said that local governments should also encourage the purchases of new energy vehicles.
Vehicle sales in China in the first seven months of this year totalled 14.13m, down 11.4% on the same period last year. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) is also calling for local authorities to implement the central government’s guidelines for boosting car consumption. The CAAM has said it estimated that China’s vehicle sales would drop 5% this year to 26.7m vehicles.
