At least 30 percent of new government vehicles in China must be new energy vehicles (EVs, PHEVs and/or fuel-cell cars) according to a joint plan from five government ministries that will be phased in over the next two years, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The rules call for urban areas with fixed routes for official cars to buy pure EVs, and stipulate that there must be one charging station for every new electric car.

As China is the world’s biggest auto market by the number of vehicles sold, that amounts to a huge business opportunity, especially for domestic EV-maker BYD, which saw its shares climb almost 4 percent on the news.

The future also looks bright for foreign plug-in purveyors – under the new rules, government agencies cannot limit the purchase of foreign brands.

Last week, the government announced that buyers of new energy vehicles would be exempt from a 10 percent vehicle tax – that should be welcome news for Tesla, which already has big plans for Chinese sales.

Source: Wall Street Journal, AP

Image: [Jim]/Flickr