China's New Energy Automobile Manufacturers and Products Access Management Rule, which was published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China on June 25 2009, was formally enacted on July 1, 2009.

The new rule covers new energy vehicle products at various levels of development as well as the corresponding management methods that MIIT adopts for them.

The rule says that the definition of new energy vehicles includes hybrid vehicles, battery powered electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles, hydrogen powered vehicles, and other new energy powered vehicles. It divides new energy vehicles into three types based on different stages of development: initial period, development period, and mature period.

To prevent duplicated effort and counterproductive competition on the R&D of new energy vehicles, MIIT will invite experts to form a special commission to determine and adjust the technical stages of the new energy vehicles and put forward relevant proposals for their development.

It is reported that the purchase tax on vehicles will be adjusted this year to promote the development of environmentally-friendly vehicles and new energy vehicles.