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China drives on green wheels amid crisis

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-22 15:15

BEIJING - The launch of the world's first commercialized plug-in hybrid electric car at the Detroit auto show again put in the limelight China's unremitting efforts to develop a sustainable and environmentally-friendly economy.

Chinese car-manufacturer BYD Auto's launching of a range of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, which lured more than 1,000 journalists and industry insiders at the main floor of the ongoing Detroit show, may have changed a bit the world's perception that Chinese products, including their cars, are low-end.

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One of BYD's e-cars, the "e6", can travel up to 250 miles (over 402 km) purely on battery, more than double the range its Western rivals can on a single charge. The BYD's innovative battery used in its dual mode cars can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at charging stations.

Before the show, the Chinese carmaker had already taken a step ahead of its Western and Japanese rivals, which also have heavily invested on developing new energy cars. BYD's F3DM, a plug-in hybrid launched last month, was at least a year ahead of General Motors' most anticipated Volt. So far, only the US auto giant and Toyota have announced plans to bring out such vehicles by 2010.

Behind BYD's remarkable move is China's tremendous effort to promote green technology even though the global economic slump seems to have moderated the ambition of some countries to fight global warming.

Under a plan to transform its economic development mode into one featuring "less input, less consumption, less emission and high efficiency," China pledges to cut the energy consumption used to generate per unit of GDP by 20 percent and major pollutants emissions by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.

And the car industry, one of the major emission producers, has drawn fair attention from the government. Over the last 10 years, China has spent nearly 2 billion yuan (US$294 million) developing cars using alternative energies.

During the Beijing Olympics last summer, about 400 electric vehicles and more than 100 hybrid vehicles were used, as part of the government's efforts to raise public awareness about clean energy.

It may not be easy for China to upgrade its economic structure, especially under the current international economic situation. It is equally a serious challenge to maintain an economic growth of 8 percent in the world's most populous country as the traditional exports of textiles and manufacturing products declined due to shrinking demand from Western countries.

But at the Detroit auto show, the Chinese showed that they have the determination to reach their goal -- to maintain a fast but steady economic growth while seeking to build an energy-saving eco-society.