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Regional milestone of the Chinese energy transition, Hainan’s decision sets a deadline to end sales of combustion cars, expand charging, grow new energy vehicles, and advance battery recycling, transforming the island into a decisive laboratory for the country’s electric mobility.
The province of Hainan, in southern China, reaffirmed in July 2026 that it intends to ban the sale of new combustion engine cars from 2030, becoming the first Chinese provincial region to adopt a measure of this scope.
Planned for the end of the decade, the plan dictates that new energy vehicles, known by the acronym NEV, should represent 45% of the entire local fleet, an estimated participation of 23.75% during 2025, just over half of the established target.
Although it has provincial scope, the restriction will only apply to sales and does not mean an immediate national ban, nor the automatic removal of cars already in circulation, which differentiates the project from a mandatory and sudden fleet replacement.
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Hainan prepares to end sales of combustion cars
Initially presented in 2018, the goal of stopping the commercialization of vehicles powered by fossil fuels was maintained in the planning for the period between 2026 and 2030, which began to detail indicators intended for policy monitoring.
According to the schedule, all new or replaced private vehicles in Hainan should be classified as NEVs in 2030, while the same rule will apply to acquisitions and exchanges made by public services and commercial operations, with the exception of special uses.
In practice, owners will not need to immediately stop using gasoline or diesel cars purchased before the deadline, as the change in fleet composition will occur gradually, as old vehicles are replaced and new registrations focus on electrified models.
Signs of this transformation already appear in local registrations, as NEVs accounted for 67.14% of vehicles registered in October 2025, a proportion equivalent to approximately two out of every three cars added to the provincial fleet during that period.
Charging infrastructure advances with the electric fleet
To accompany the projected growth of electrified vehicles, Hainan intends to expand the charging network and maintain the ratio below 2.5 vehicles for each charging point, a benchmark set to guide the infrastructure expansion during the policy implementation.
In addition to the chargers, the province plans to increase the supply of low-carbon electricity to meet the additional demand, while new energy sources, mainly photovoltaic solar and wind, already accounted for 50.1% of the installed electric capacity in June 2026.
Among the planned measures are the expansion of offshore wind energy, the evaluation of integrated solar and wind generation projects, and the construction of photovoltaic energy demonstration facilities at sea, with priority given to meeting consumption through clean sources.
By linking fleet renewal to electric system planning, the schedule incorporates not only the supply of automobiles but also the availability of recharging and the generation capacity needed to sustain new mobility standards on the island.
Battery recycling recovers strategic metals
With the increase in electrified cars, there is also a growing need to treat batteries taken out of use, a process in which Brunp Recycling, a subsidiary of the Chinese manufacturer CATL, operates a system aimed at recovering raw materials to return to the production chain.
According to data released by CATL, the directional recycling technology used by Brunp achieves 99.6% recovery of nickel, cobalt, and manganese, while the rate attributed to lithium reaches 96.5% in the processes conducted by the company.
These results, however, correspond to the subsidiary’s operation and do not represent an average of the entire Chinese industry, a distinction necessary to avoid attributing a specific technical performance indiscriminately to the country’s recycling sector as a whole.
During 2024, Brunp processed more than 120 thousand tons of discarded batteries and produced 17.1 thousand tons of recycled lithium salts, maintaining a cycle that connects production, use, disassembly, material recovery, and the manufacture of new components.
In addition to industrial activity, the subsidiary led or participated in the development of more than 80% of the Chinese national standards related to lithium-ion battery recycling, bringing technological development closer to the rules applied to disposal and reuse.
45% target transforms Hainan into a national test
Despite being ambitious, the 45% target does not mean that all cars on the island will be electrified by 2030, but it establishes a measurable milestone for fleet renewal, dependent on the continuation of NEV registrations and the execution of the announced infrastructure.
By concentrating vehicle sales, charger installation, expansion of electricity generation, and battery recycling into a single strategy, Hainan transforms the replacement of combustion engines into a project that involves different stages of the automotive and energy chain.
If the schedule progresses without bottlenecks in recharging, electricity supply, or battery disposal, the province’s performance could indicate how many other Chinese regions will be prepared to adopt similar restrictions before the end of the next decade?
