BEIJING (Dow Jones)--General Motors Co. China Vice President David Chen said Monday he hopes the Chinese government will extend electric-car subsidies to imported vehicles.
Chen told reporters on the sidelines of a conference that Beijing's policy to subsidize only domestically produced electric cars would hurt foreign companies' competitiveness in China.
In June, China said it will provide subsides for purchases of battery-powered cars and plug-in hybrids under a pilot program aimed at keeping the country competitive in the global race to develop an electric-vehicle industry.
China's Ministry of Finance said it will launch the two-year program this year in five cities--Shanghai, Hangzhou, Changchun, Shenzhen and Hefei. Under the program, buyers of domestically produced electric vehicles will receive subsidies of up to CNY60,000 ($8,800) per vehicle, and buyers of selected domestically produced gasoline-electric hybrid automobiles will receive up to CNY50,000 per vehicle.
"China is the only country that has different subsidy policies (for electric vehicles based on origin)," Chen said. "The U.S. government provides $7,500 for every electric car no matter where it comes from," he said.
Chen made the comments after GM said it will start selling the Chevrolet Volt electric car in China in 2011.
Currently, foreign companies don't produce pure electric battery cars or plug-in hybrids in China. Chinese auto maker BYD Co. (1211.HK) is the only company that produces and sells these advanced vehicles in China.
Chen also said GM is interested in building automobile charging stations in China, which are mainly being constructed by State Grid Corp. and other Chinese power firms in the trial cities. He didn't elaborate.
