China draws electric car plans

China is to pay subsidies to car-buyers as part of a new strategy to support electric cars, says the country's vice minister of finance. Under the new strategy, unveiled in a Friday conference attended by several Chinese officials as well as car firms' executives, Beijing launches nationwide efforts involving car-producers, research institutes and government agencies to prevail over the technological and safety obstacles to develop electric cars. China will invest $146b in research on the field, while providing most of the subsidies to consumers, rather than car companies. “Otherwise the companies will just fight for subsidies," vice minister Zhang Shaochun said. He added that the government believes the market should decide which electric vehicle model would become popular. So the government is paying some research subsidies, while the main move will be to provide large subsidies for buyers of electric cars. “The fiscal subsidy gives voting rights to the consumer,” he said. Beijing has already provided up to 60,000 yuan, ($8,800), for purchases by taxi fleets and local government agencies. China's minister of science and technology, Wan Gang, said in the conference that the country needed 'to be sustainable in different sectors, particularly in the auto sector'.