Our reporters have learned from the Ministry of Finance that the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Transport are set to commence the application process for pilot projects in 2026. These projects are designed to tackle the shortage of charging and battery swap facilities in county regions. The strategy involves selecting 59 joint pilot counties across the nation to swiftly bridge the gaps in public charging and battery swap infrastructure in rural areas, thereby unlocking further consumption potential for new energy vehicles.

This pilot initiative promotes collaborative applications from two or more counties, with a designated lead county taking charge. The prefecture-level city housing the lead county must boast a car ownership of at least 250,000 vehicles by 2025. To ensure widespread coverage of the pilot program, the policy mandates that when allocating pilot county quotas, provinces must take into account the geographical distribution of pilot counties registered in 2024 and 2025, prioritizing prefecture-level cities that have not yet participated.