BEIJING — Beijing will add 1,628 more public charging stations for the new energy vehicles (NEVs), according to Beijing Youth Daily on Sept 17.

The new charging stations will be placed in crowded areas near shopping malls, hospitals, hotels and parks in over ten districts around the city, the newspaper said, quoting sources with the municipal development and reform commission.

Until now, the city has constructed a total of 132,000 charging stations for NEVs. Of the total, 95,000 charging stations are privately made, according to the newspaper.

NEV sales went up 49.5 percent year on year to 101,000 units last month, while production rose 39 percent to 99,000 units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in an online statement on Sept. 11.

In recent years, China has intensified efforts to encourage the use of NEVs to ease pressure on the environment by offering tax exemptions and discounts for NEV purchases.

China has remained the world’s largest NEV market for three consecutive years, with some 777,000 cars sold in 2017.