China's Hainan province has officially announced a complete cessation of sales of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030. This goal is enshrined in the development program "Hainan National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone 15th Five-Year Plan." The region will be the first in the country where the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars will be completely stopped.
The choice of Hainan is not accidental. The island, with an area of 35.4 thousand km², has a developed road network, including the G98 ring expressway with a length of 612.8 km, which is easily traversable by modern electric vehicles. Furthermore, by mid-2026, renewable energy sources became the primary source of electricity for the region, and Hainan ranks first in China in terms of the share of new energy vehicles in sales.
By 2030, authorities expect to increase the share of such vehicles in the total fleet to over 45%. Government transport, municipal vehicles, passenger carriers, as well as all new and replacement private cars, with the exception of specialized equipment, are expected to switch to environmentally friendly powertrains.
In parallel, the charging infrastructure is expanding. The region intends to maintain a ratio of no more than 2.5 vehicles per charging station. At the same time, projects for the development of nuclear and renewable energy are being implemented, which should increase the island's energy independence from 24% in 2025 to 54% by 2030.
Despite ambitious plans, authorities acknowledge existing challenges, including a high load on the energy system and the need for further development of charging and hydrogen infrastructure. To accelerate the transition, owners of new energy vehicles are also planned to be provided with benefits for registration, operation, and parking.