BEIJING — China’s top economic planner released an action plan on Dec 10 to improve charging infrastructure for new energy vehicles (NEVs).

The country aims to substantially improve the technology and quality of charging facilities, speed up efforts to establish a better standard system and optimize the distribution of these facilities within three years, according to the plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

China will also make the charging networks better connected with each other, upgrade the charging services and create a better environment for the development of the charging infrastructure.

The plan was made by the NDRC and three other government departments including the Ministry of Finance.

China has already built over 600,000 charging poles in total for NEVs, but there remain difficulties in the installment of these facilities and their operations are not efficient enough, according to the plan.

The government will encourage innovation of business models, continue to strengthen policy support and give full play to the role of industry associations in order to improve the charging infrastructure, according to the plan.

NEVs are gaining popularity in China, the world’s largest auto market, thanks to a string of supportive policies, as they help reduce fossil fuel consumption and address air pollution.

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