(Photo/Xinhua)

Auto consumption is an integral part of China’s consumption market, and the country has been striving to make the whole life cycle of vehicles greener, from new-car business to the second-hand market and scrap.

According to statistics released by the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), a total of 27.8 million vehicles were sold in China last year, accounting for 30 percent of the global total.

When selecting new cars, Chinese consumers are beginning to favor new energy vehicles (NEVs). China sold 1.3 million NEVs in 2018, 61.7 percent more than a year ago, maintaining the world’s largest NEV market.

Wang Wei, who works in a hospital in southern China’s Guangdong province, explained that after comparing online, he decided to buy an electric vehicle. He said his new NEV is energy-saving and environment-friendly, but also, maintenance is cheaper.

Wang hopes that the future advancement of technology could further diversify choices and lower NEV prices.

China’s used-car market is also helping the auto industry go green, as better circulation of second-hand vehicles helps build a greener and more efficient auto circulation.

According to CADA, a total of 13.8 million second-hand vehicles were traded in China last year, up 11.5 percent from a year ago, with a total transaction of 860 billion.

Though the market has been expanding rapidly, the Chinese used-car market still has enormous potential. In developed countries, the sales of used cars are usually twice that of the new models, while in China, the proportion is less than half.

China is also making strides to recycle major assemblies of automobiles, as recycling can save 60 percent of energy, 70 percent of materials, and 50 percent of the cost. It would also cut 80 percent of pollutant discharge.

A man from Tianjin municipality received a subsidy of 18,000 yuan for scraping his 15-year-old vehicle. According to this source, the car could have been sold for 20,000 yuan in the used car market, but the process would have taken longer. “I never thought that I could get so much money by scraping it,” he told People’s Daily.

The high subsidy for scrapped cars is a result of a document released by China’s State Council this May to allow recycling of automobile assemblies including engines, steering assemblies, gears, front and rear axles, and frames. This enabled used car parts with high added value to be recycled, which is both energy-saving and environment-friendly.