THE city will offer two hours of free parking a day for new-energy vehicles at all public parking places across the city, the Shenzhen Evening News reported yesterday.

    According to the city’s development and reform commission, new-energy cars will enjoy two hours of free parking every day at public parking places that are funded or managed by the city government, such as parking lots at airports, bus stations, piers, checkpoints, museums, parks, libraries, stadiums, hospitals and schools, where recharging services will be offered as well.

    Additionally, commercial parking lots will be encouraged to offer recharging services and discounted parking fees for new-energy cars.

    This is the latest preferential policy that the city government has adopted to encourage the use of new-energy vehicles and to cut emission pollution.

    The commission’s spokesperson said that there were 49,000 new-energy vehicles in Shenzhen as of June 30 and the number was expected to reach 120,000 by 2020, while all public buses in the city will be replaced by electric buses by the end of 2017.

    The spokesperson said that 40,612 charging posts have been installed in public places, residential estates and government-run parking lots across the city this year.

    Shenzhen residents who buy new-energy cars have been able to get license plates without participating in the monthly lottery or auction since October 2015. People who want to buy fuel-powered vehicles have to obtain license plates by either participating in the monthly lottery or auction before their purchases after the city imposed an annual limit of 200,000 new car registrations in December 2014.

    Also, new-energy car buyers are eligible for subsidies of up to 134,000 yuan (US$19,420) from the government — 54,000 yuan from the Central Government and 80,000 yuan from the city government.

    (Zhang Yang)