New-energy car rules around corner

Sales of new-energy vehicles in the first half hit 72,711 units, a 240 percent rise from the same period last year. Of those, 64 percent were pure electric vehicles.

China plans to have 5 million such vehicles on its roads by 2020. The sector of new-energy vehicles is also a priority in the Made in China 2025 strategy the State Council released in June.

Many local governments are planning to expand their charging networks as part of efforts to promote new-energy vehicles.

Beijing announced it would install charging posts within a five-kilometer radius inside the sixth ring road by the end of this year.

Statistics show the city government has built about 1,700 charging posts in the capital.

Xu at the city's science commission said the government would gradually stop building new charging facilities and called for private funds to play a bigger role in the charging infrastructure.

According to the National Energy Administration, China is expected to have 4.5 million charging posts by 2020, at a cost of more than 124 billion yuan ($20 billion).

In addition to government efforts, some automakers are installing charging posts for their customers. The first of those built by Beijing Automotive Industry Corp went into use in May.

A growing number of companies dedicated to installing charging infrastructure is emerging in the market, with the first joint venture in the sector established in July.

Zhang predicted that the new standards would also be good news for those companies as charging facilities would become easier to promote when they can charge vehicles from different models.