THE country needs to strengthen its infrastructure for the distribution of hydrogen as a fuel to accelerate development of its fuel-cell vehicle industry, a high-ranking government industrial policy advisor told a conference Tuesday.

“Experience tells us the most important thing for developing hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles is to build infrastructure that integrates hydrogen production, storage and transportation,” Wan Gang, vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, told a conference in Boao, China.

That’s important in order “to accelerate commercial applications of the technology,” he said, according to a transcript provided by the conference organizer.

While stressing the importance of new energy vehicles, Wan — a former science minister widely regarded as a key promoter of electric vehicles in China — noted that China will not forbid traditional internal combustion engines as it is a big country with complicated local environment and climate situations.

Wan, who is often referred to in media as China’s “father of EV,” is leading a research team to plan China’s new energy vehicle development over the years 2021 to 2035. He said fuel-cell vehicles are suitable for logistics and long-term transportation purposes.

China is the world’s largest new energy vehicle (NEV) market. For all of last year, NEV sales jumped almost 62 percent even though the broader market shrank. However, NEV sales grew just 1.8 percent in May versus 18.1 percent in April.

Senior industry executives and academics in China have urged the government to support hydrogen fuel-cell technology due to its suitability for commercial vehicles. Geely in May launched its first hydrogen bus model.(SD-Agencies)