Shanghai (ZXZC)- Led by Beijing, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) pilot city cluster has become one of the first FCV demonstration conurbations in China, according to the Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau.

Foton Motor's FCV; photo credit: Foton Motor

The approval was jointly given by China’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, National Development and Reform Commission, and National Energy Administration. During the four-year demonstration period, they will provide supports, by means of “replacing subsidies with rewards”, for the shortlisted demonstration city clusters based on the latter’s fulfillment of targets.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei hydrogen FCV pilot city cluster encompasses six districts of Beijing, Tianjin’s Binhai New Area, Hebei’s Baoding and Tangshan cities, as well as Shandong’s Binzhou and Zibo cities. The application was led by Beijing Municipal Finance and Daxing District Government of Beijing Municipality, and commenced in September 2020.

Beijing announced last week the target of having 3,000 hydrogen vehicles on roads and 37 hydrogen refueling stations by the end of 2023. It expects the number of hydrogen vehicles on roads to exceed 10,000 by 2025.

The city government said it aims to foster 10 to 15 leading companies with global influence for hydrogen energy industrial chain, construct an industrial cluster about core parts and facility manufacturing of hydrogen industry, and build 3 to 4 world-class platforms for R&D and innovation of hydrogen business by 2025, according to a hydrogen energy industry development blueprint issued by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

According to the aforesaid blueprint, a hydrogen energy industrial chain worth more than 100 billion yuan ($15.427 billion) will be built and 2 million tons of carbon emissions will be reduced in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region by 2025.