Its a slow news day here in China for two reasons
1. Next week is a national holiday - we will be celebrating the day that Mao Zedong declared the Peoples Republic into existance. Well its not quite a holiday yet, workers all over the country will be working saturday and sunday so they can have monday and tuesday off. Technically it is a 1 day holiday as workers will also have to work the following weekend (Oct 13th and 14th) to make up for the time they missed, but we will take 9 days holiday just to be smug. Everyone is excited about their fake week long holiday, so not much news is getting written today.
2. The central government in Beijing have finally decided to collect fuel tax, this has sent a collective shock down the backs of 1.3 billion people who really dont want to pay tax. Beijing currently doesnt collect tax on fuel and the cost of fuel at the pump is very cheap when compared to other countries around the world (4.79rmb for 92# and 5rmb for 97#).
The tax is essentially good news for those who cover a lot of road per year as the government plans to do away with road tax, toll bridges, highway maintance fees etc. Currently road tax is paid by the weight of your car, if you have a larger car you pay more, you have a smaller car you pay less, this fee is around 100rmb per 1000kg of car weight. The government is saying this is a fairer system as if you drive more, you pay more tax on your fuel, you drive less, you pay less. However, long distance driving costs soon add up, especially when you use certain roads that have toll bridges with tolls ranging from a few RMB upto a higher amount (we honestly dont know how high, 50rmb was the most expensive toll we’ve been to) so under the new system if you drive a lot, you wont get hammered with toll bridge and highway costs but you will get a fuel tax.
Beijings idea is that car companies will be pushed into developing other alternative fuel cars whilst the driver gets pinched in the pocket and has to take public transport. Clearly the Mandarins in Beijing have not taken public transport in China in the last decade and the last place I’d like to be on a Monday morning is on a packed diesel fume spewing bus with my nose pushed firmly in someones arm pit.
On the upside, the cost of the fuel tax will hopefully knock a few drivers off the road meaning more room to drive FAST!
China Car Times is no economist, but we think the old adage ‘If its not broken, Dont fix it’ is clearly applicable here. Beijing, this is one of your silliest ideas yet. Look forward to mass strikes by taxi drivers in March next year when the fuel tax comes into play.
London black cab maker, Manganese Bronze, signed up with Geely automobile last year to make the famous London taxi cab in China for export to the UK and for use in China. Manganese Bronze recognised that their cab only had a market in the London area due to tradition and the high cost of the cab which due to the strong British Pound made the cab too expensive for other markets. Geely have stepped in and offered up their Maple factory for refitting to manufacture the TX4 taxi cab in China where materials and labor costs are a fraction of the UKs. The JV, 52% owned by Geely and 48% by Manganse Bronze has been delayed by three months due to various paperwork, this has had an effect on production dates, a spokesman for Manganese Bronze expects prototype taxis to be made around mid 2008.
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