SHANGHAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai's new regulations on encouraging citizens to purchase and use new-energy vehicles (NEVs) took effect on Monday.

Local consumers can apply for special license plates for new-energy vehicles free of charge if they own only one such vehicle and it is for non-operational use, according to the regulations.

However, consumers who plan to buy plug-in hybrid vehicles should already have charging facilities in Shanghai and not own any cars registered as non-operational status, although motorcycles are excluded.

In a bid to promote the use of NEVs, Shanghai will upgrade existing public charging points into fast-charging ones and aim to build a network with 10,000 charging points. Meanwhile, the city will produce over 10,000 fuel-cell vehicles with 70 charging stations by 2025.

Shanghai aims to become a global hub for new-energy vehicles. According to SAIC Motor, a major Chinese carmaker based in Shanghai, sales of the company's NEVs reached 320,000 units in 2020, up 77.8 percent year on year. On Jan. 18, U.S. electric car-maker Tesla started delivering its Model Y vehicles, which are made at its Shanghai factory.