China has released details of its subsidizing scheme aimed at promoting the use of energy efficient and new-energy vehicles.

The central government will offer a one-off subsidy to companies and institutions in 11 cities to buy hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles. This subsidy has not yet been extended to private car users. It is set to be determined by the price gap between energy-efficient vehicles and those powered by gas.

For passenger cars and small business cars, the subsidy is divided into five categories, with the highest at 50,000 yuan. The subsidy for electric-only cars is 60,000 yuan, and for fuel cell vehicles 250,000.

The standard for public transport buses is different: the mix-power bus subsidy is for 80,000 or 420,000 yuan depending on energy category. For an electric bus, the subsidy is 500,000 yuan, while that of a fuel cell bus is 600,000 yuan.

(CCTV February 9, 2009)