China promotes green cars and ships

China has decided to promote the use of environmental friendly vehicles and ships by offering tax cuts. Beginning at the start of the year, the country has decided to halve vehicle tax for users of energy-saving cars and ships, according to a document posted Wednesday on the website of the Ministry of Finance. Vehicle tax for users of new-energy cars and vessels will also be removed, reported Xinhua. China overtook the US as the world's largest auto market in 2009 after selling 13.64 million vehicles that year. Both car sales and production volume witnessed astonishing growth in 2009 and 2010 before slowing to a 2.4-percent growth in 2011 with the conclusion of stimulus policies. China remains the world's largest auto market. Car sales last year hit 18.5 million units.