The Chinese government says it plans to increase the funds available for developing greener technology in the country's automobile industry.

Officials said in a statement that the new research funds will be made available from within overall budgets for energy conservation and emission reduction.

The initiative, 'New Energy Auto Technology Innovation Financial Reward Fund', will be jointly-financed by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The departments involved said the move aims to further improve the level of innovation in the auto industry, and speed up the implementation of greener technology by manufacturers.

Government funding will be available for the development of pure electric, hybrid, fuel cell, and battery-powered automobile projects.

Projects will be financed in phases, said officials. Forty percent of a project's finance will be provided at the start-up stage, another 50 per cent at the half-ways stage, if certain assessment criteria are successful met, and the final 10 percent at completion.

To qualify for funding, company must already have proven R&D track records, and be spending more than 3 percent of total revenue on new energy R&D.