BEIJING - China has issued 150,000 car plates specially designed for new energy vehicles, the traffic management bureau of the Ministry of Public Security said Tuesday.

The bureau said in a statement that a total of 19 Chinese cities to date are using such special plates for new energy vehicles in a pilot program, which started from December 2016 in five cities and expanded to more cities this year.

To ease energy and environmental pressures and promote the upgrading of auto industry, the general office of the State Council in 2014 issued a guideline to promote the use of new energy vehicles, pledging different management policies for new energy cars.

The program will be expanded to all Chinese cities next year.