People's Daily published an article on new energy vehicle subsidy fraud: The hole must be plugged

Since 2009, the central government has provided subsidies for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, but some companies have violated relevant laws and regulations to defraud and seek financial subsidies, seriously disrupting the market order. In early 2016, after the "subsidy fraud" problem was exposed by the media, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and other four ministries jointly carried out a special investigation. In early September, the Ministry of Finance made some typical cases of serious "subsidy fraud" public.

On December 20, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the punishment measures for enterprises that "cheated" new energy vehicles, and Suzhou GMC Bus Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was "canceled from vehicle production qualification". Four enterprises, including King Long United Automotive Industry (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., which were involved in "license plates without vehicles", were punished with "orders to stop production and sales of problematic models, suspension of application qualifications for new energy vehicle recommended catalogs, and orders to carry out rectification for 6 months".

This time, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology not only announced penalties for "subsidy fraud" companies, but also improved the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles.

Subsidy funds are changed from pre-payment to post-settlement

The subsidy standards for some models are too high, companies rely too much on subsidy policies, and the actual utilization rate of some vehicles is low... In order to make the subsidies more accurate, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four ministries have proposed a plan to adjust and improve the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles:

——The subsidy funds for the purchase of new energy vehicles will be changed from advance payment to post settlement.

——Appropriately adjust the subsidy method for passenger cars and special-purpose vehicles, set upper limits for central and local subsidies, and prevent the phenomenon of excessively high local matching subsidy standards.

——Appropriately expand the catalog of recommended vehicle models and establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will also announce the revised "Regulations on Access Management of New Energy Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products" in the near future, which will raise the entry threshold in terms of corporate design and development capabilities, production and manufacturing capabilities, after-sales service capabilities, product technical performance, and quality assurance capabilities.

Some industry experts also pointed out that exposure and punishment will have a deterrent effect on "subsidy fraud" of new energy vehicles. The improvement of fiscal subsidy policies and the increase of enterprise entry thresholds can guide enterprises to improve product quality and safety, and will also help to increase industry concentration.

Get out of the vicious circle of "where there are subsidies, there are frauds"

"Subsidy fraud" has also repeatedly occurred in the implementation of policies such as home appliance subsidies, pig subsidies, and diesel subsidies. In order to get out of the vicious circle of "where there are subsidies, there are subsidy frauds", ensure that national policies are implemented, and strictly prevent "subsidy fraud" incidents from happening again, relevant departments have improved three major guarantee mechanisms:

——Establish a real-time adjustment mechanism for new energy vehicle subsidy policies, increase the assessment conditions for linking vehicle mileage with subsidies, improve the technical conditions of subsidized vehicle models and appropriately reduce subsidy amounts based on technological progress and market conditions, and promote the application of vehicles.

——Establish a real-time monitoring mechanism for the operation of new energy vehicles, improve the three-level monitoring platforms of the central, local and enterprise levels, ensure the safety of vehicle use, and strengthen the assessment of vehicle use.

——Improve the on-site and post-event supervision system, implement a unified coding system for power batteries, strengthen market sampling and verification of new energy vehicle products, and increase penalties for illegal and irregular behaviors.

my country has provided subsidies for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles since 2009. As of the end of 2015, the central government had allocated a total of 33.435 billion yuan in subsidies.

"Overall, subsidies have played a huge role in promoting the current development of new energy vehicles." Wang Wei , director of the Jilin Automobile Electronics Association and an automobile industry expert , said that the duration of financial subsidies should not be too long, otherwise many companies will ignore technological progress and long-term planning.

Based on international experience, in order to promote industrial development, in addition to direct financial subsidies, it relies more on a combination of measures including taxation and government procurement to guide it.

"Our subsidies are direct cash payments, while foreign countries are more likely to give tax refunds, so that the policies fall on individuals rather than companies. We can also learn from this approach." Dong Yang, executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, suggested that the development and changes of an industry are very fast, and dynamic adjustments to policies should also be more timely.

New energy vehicles still need further support

At present, China's new energy vehicle market is booming. From 1,000 vehicles in 2011 to more than 400,000 vehicles in 2015, my country has become the world's largest producer and consumer of new energy vehicles. From January to November this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 400,000 vehicles, an increase of 59% and 60.4% respectively.

my country has also started to reduce the standards for fiscal subsidies for new energy vehicles. The Ministry of Finance issued a new subsidy policy last year: the subsidy standard for new energy vehicles will be reduced by 20% from 2017 to 2018 compared with 2016, and will be reduced by 40% from 2019 to 2020. The subsidy policy will be withdrawn after 2020.

In fact, it is not only the fiscal subsidy policy. In recent years, whether it is the regulation of the power battery industry or the improvement of the entry conditions for new energy vehicles, the overall idea of ​​national policy is to point to high-quality and quantitative development.

The development of emerging industries generally goes through different stages such as incubation, development, and maturity. Wang Binggang, head of the expert group of the National Clean Vehicle Action Coordination Leading Group Office, said that at present, the cost-effectiveness of my country's new energy vehicle products cannot compete with traditional vehicles, the charging problem in infrastructure is still prominent, and there is a lack of a competitive industrial chain, which is still in the incubation period.

As industry insiders generally say, the development of new energy vehicles in China does need further policy support, but it should focus more on the simultaneous improvement of endogenous driving force and core technology.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.