REGIONAL> Development
Dalian boosts new energy traffic
By Zhu Chengpei and Zhang Xiaomin (China Daily Dalian Bureau)
Updated: 2009-05-04 16:43

DALIAN: Some 350 new energy buses will be put into use in the city's public service sector by the end of the year, and 1,200 by 2010, according to a plan made Sunday by the municipal government to promote its new public traffic system.

The port city in northeast China's Liaoning province leads other domestic cities in the research and development of new energy automobiles, said Xia Deren, mayor of Dalian, at a meeting discussing new energy traffic.

"Within two years, we must reach an annual production capacity of 3,000 hybrid electric buses and 20,000 battery electric vehicles," Xia said.

The city's new energy industry has developed rapidly since early this year, when Dalian was named one of the first 13 pilot cities to popularize energy-saving and new energy vehicles. FAW Group's new energy bus manufacturing base, with an investment of 300 million yuan, will begin construction this month.

According to Xia, Dalian should boost the development of green industries, including key parts of energy-saving and new energy vehicles, nuclear power and wind power equipment, LED, software and IT, and the modern service industry, seizing the opportunity of popularizing energy-saving and new energy vehicles.