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Freight firms offered 0% finance

By Lan Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-12 07:42

Transport firms in Beijing that take out bank loans to finance the purchase of low-emission vehicles can apply for subsidies from the municipal government to cover their interest payments, a senior official said at a press conference yesterday.

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Chen Nan, head of the economic construction section of the municipal finance bureau, said the firms will be able to claim up to two years' worth of interest if they buy their "green" vehicles between Jan 1 and June 30; 18 months' interest if they buy between July 1 and Sept 30; and a year's interest if they buy between Oct 1 and Dec 31.

"The earlier the firms buy the vehicles, the more interest they can get back," she said.

Companies can apply for the subsidies from next month, she said. The announcement was well received by local freight companies.

Zhang Junxian, manager of the Hongxianda Logistics Co, said: "I'm very glad to hear the news. It will help cut our costs when buying new green-label vehicles."

Wang Baoming, manager of Beijing Huaxin Tongshun Transport Co, said, however, that although the offer was generous, few firms will be able to benefit from it.

"The idea is good, but most transport firms have huge difficulties getting loans in the first place, so there's no point in having an interest subsidy."

Wang Zhaorong, a member of the municipal committee of communications said the subsidy offer is part of a wider campaign to rid Beijing of heavily polluting "yellow-label" vehicles.

Eighty percent of the city's 120,000 freight vehicles are classed as  yellow label, he said.

Since the start of the year, some 350,000 vehicles that do not meet the Euro I emission standard have been banned from venturing inside the capital's 5th Ring Road. The ban will be extended to the 6th Ring Road from October, he said.

Li Kunsheng, head of the vehicle management section of the Beijing municipal environmental protection bureau, said: "By introducing 50,000 green-label vehicles, the total emissions in the city could be reduced by 30-40 percent."

Just 100,000 freight vehicles account for 50 percent of all the pollution from 350,000 environmentally unfriendly vehicles, he told China Daily.

Yu Jie, deputy director of the Beijing transportation bureau, said at the press conference that authorities want to see 20,000 "clean" trucks on the city's roads by October and 50,000 within the next three years.