China has turned itself into an automotive society within a short time as car ownership has been growing continuously at a high rate for more than ten years. China’s car ownership is approaching 280 million with the rate of ownership equaling 117 per 1,000 individuals, close to the international average.

However, the “soft” environment of the automobile society in China now, especially the automobile using environment, still has a long way to go before it gets modernized like in developed countries. Many conflicts and problems, such as the inconvenience when using the cars and heavy duties at all aspects directly restrict the working efficiency and hamper the development of an automotive society in China. 

 Ms. Wang Fengying, CEO of Great Wall Motors, summarizes the six issues as follows: first, the vehicle and vessel tax system is unfair, and it is unfavorable for solving traffic jams by discouraging car owners from frequently using cars. Second, toll charging periods for expressways are too long or exceed reasonable limits. Third, the fuel oil pricing mechanism is not based on vehicle use intensity, where price leverage regulations have not been adequately used to guide the general public to lower vehicle use intensity. Fourth, the current vehicle annual inspection system is still somewhat unreasonable, wasting social resources. Fifth, management of parking charges in most cities is chaotic, inefficient and hundreds of millions of parking fee charges have seemingly disappeared. Sixth, the urban traffic problem has not been properly addressed yet, and perspective investigations and adequate demonstrations are required to see whether congestion charges can be levied. 。

Despite China’s evolution into an automotive society, the government and society are actually not well prepared because relevant laws & regulations, tax policies and other systems have not been upgraded as well as a lack of scientific and systematic understanding of future development trends in an automotive society. 

It is time to improve the automobile using environment and establish a friendly framework of laws, regulations and policies for automotive society; otherwise, a large amount of car ownership and consequent problems like travel difficulties, environmental protection pressure and increased dependence on imported crude oil may affect the future development health of both the Chinese economy and society. 

Therefore, the opinion Ms. Wang Fengying expressed during the NPC & CPPCC are as follows: relevant laws and policies shall be amended or improved and unreasonable and unfair system barriers shall be abolished by technical means based on information and reason, create a fairer and more efficient automobile using environment for car owners, improve the working efficiency of the Chinese automotive society and promote sustainable and healthy development of both the Chinese economy and society. Her proposals are summed up as follows: 

The vehicle and vessel use tax system shall be optimized on the basis of vehicle use intensity.The principle of “portioning charge to use” shall be advocated to encourage the public to drive small-displacement vehicles and take public transport, guide motor vehicle drivers to decrease vehicle use intensity and promote the ideas of civilized travel and green driving. 

Specify the social/manage attributes of transportation infrastructure like expressway, scientifically allocate resources to create a fairer and better regulated environment for owners to use their cars.

With vehicle use intensity as an important basis for collecting fees, a ladder pricing system for vehicle fuel oil shall be explored to guide users to lower vehicle use intensity. 

A progressive oil pricing system for different vehicle models shall be established to encourage the use of small-displacement vehicle models with low energy consumption by offering a lower fuel oil price for a larger mileage. Certainly, the basis for grading a progressive oil price system must be tested in-depth, and the decision-making process shall be made available to the public. 

Motor vehicle use intensity shall be lowered by using price as a guiding factor and a consideration for consumption, punitive measures shall be imposed on large-displacement vehicle models and those with energy consumption far above the average, and appropriate rewards shall be given to those whose vehicle use intensity is lower than the average. 

Parking management shall be implemented by taking full advantage of technical means based on information and intelligence such as Internet+ to improve the efficiency of parking management. 

Parking lots shall have their management strengthened and all supervised by a single department, with a charging standard specified. Traffic efficiency of access to and departure from parking lots shall be improved by utilizing vehicle electronic tags (including ETC) and smart phone online payment functions, the information technology used in existing parking lots shall be upgraded so that motor vehicle drivers can know real-time information about parking lots near their destination in advance to avoid meaningless resource waste. 

A prudent attitude must be taken towards congestion charges, and the decision-making process must be open and transparent. 

Congestion charges shall not be levied from too high a starting point, but implemented step by step, and shall reasonably specify areas of congestion charge. Meanwhile, the carrying capacity of public transportation shall be increased while the public traffic networks shall be improved amid the endeavor to speed up construction of underground traffic networks. 

The laws, regulations and policies relating to vehicle use shall be amended and improved to create a more convenient environment for owners to use their cars. 

The laws, regulations and policies relating to vehicle use management shall be further amended or improved to create a friendlier environment for owners to use their cars. For instance, the current six-year inspection-free rule for motor vehicles shall be further improved so that an annual inspection sign with a validity period of six years can be issued to a new car when it is registered for the first time. In so doing, most car owners and related organizations will spend less time, resources and capital on annual vehicle inspections and enjoy a more convenient environment to use their cars.