Several vehicles for sharing park at a service spot in the Haikou Integrated Free Trade Zone. [Photo by Liu Mai/hinews.cn]

Car-sharing and the usage of new energy vehicles received extensive attention at the launch ceremony of Hainan's 2018 Energy Conservation Week initiated at the Hainan Resort Software Community on June 11.

As well as Haikou and Sanya, car-sharing companies have expanded their services to other cities and counties in the province. Mainly using battery electric vehicles, car-sharing has become more popular among local residents as an environmentally-friendly and convenient alternative to public transport.

Global Car Sharing is one of the forerunners entering the new energy vehicle periodical leasing market in Hainan. Having started service in the end of 2016, the company has benefitted 40,000 users in seven cities and counties including Haikou, Sanya, Wenchang, Qionghai, Danzhou, Lingao and Chengmai. A total of 805 pure electric vehicles have been distributed in 300 service spots. A staff member of the company revealed that services will begin soon in Tunchang, Ding'an, Wuzhishan and Baoting.

In April 2016, the People's Government of Hainan Province announced plans to build over 28,000 charging piles and promote the application of more than 30,000 new energy vehicles by the end of 2020. Such vehicles are required to be widely used in government organizations and in public service fields.

The promotion and application of new energy vehicles has gained popularity thanks to a series of support policies. To date, the number of clean energy vehicles in Hainan has reached 29,000, including 18,000 using new energy and 11,000 using natural gas as fuel. More than 4,000 charging piles are in service now and about 2,000 have been included into the provincial information management platform.

Hainan government plans in the future to release more incentive policies, including offering parking discounts, green-car subsidies and more charging facilities to accelerate the popularization of clean energy vehicles.