Zhejiang draws up plans to boost auto consumption due to COVID-19

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- To unleash the potential of auto spending which is suppressed by the COVID-19 epidemic, Zhejiang provincial government also offered its solutions.

The government stated via its Sina Weibo account it will encourage an orderly relaxation of restriction on automobile purchase. In a bid to maximize the consumption potential in rural areas, the policies and measures of automobile replacement and bringing automobile to countryside will be formulated and issued to benefit the farmers.

By virtue of Zhejiang's substantial vehicle population, the government proposed to strengthen the used car transaction and open up the refitted car market in accordance with the law, so as to tap the potential of automotive aftermarket.

Besides, the innovative services will be urged to lift the consumption. For instance, automobile dealers will be encouraged to use online platforms to let consumers appreciate cars and offer door-to-door test drive service.

Zhejiang Province gathers several key complete vehicle companies, such as Geely Automobile and Zotye Auto, and a number of auto parts suppliers.

It is estimated that the vehicle outputs in Zhejiang will exceed 3.5 million units by 2022, of which over 800,000 units will be NEVs, according to an action plan issued by Zhejiang provincial government in Jan. 2019. The total output value of auto-related industries with annual revenue of RMB20 million or more from their main business operations will surpass RMB1 trillion by then, of which the volume for complete vehicle and auto parts industries will top RMB400 billion and RMB600 billion respectively.

Some ministry-level executive departments also put forward the proposals on revitalizing automobile consumption. To maintain a stable automobile spending, the commerce units of local governments should proactively promote the issuance of subsidy policies on new car purchase and automobile replacement, advance the relaxation of the restriction on pickups entering the city, facilitate the used car transaction, and carry out activities for car sales promotion, according to a statement jointly issued by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and National Health Commission on Mar. 19.

Furthermore, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated on Feb. 24 that regions where the automobile purchase restriction policy is implemented would be encouraged to increase as appropriate the vehicle license plate quota as part of efforts to promote the spending of automobile and relevant products.