While the U.S. has abandoned plans to develop cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, China will continue to pursue the technology.

 

Wan Gang, who is Minister for Science and Technology, conveyed the government's decision. He was addressing a meeting in Shanghai, convened in mid-April by Fiat Powertrain Technologies S.p.A., on power technology innovation.

 

"In addition to researching key hybrid motor vehicle technologies likely to be applied in the near and medium future, we also need to seize time and work hard to research the strategic fuel cell technology for the future," said Wan.

 

He also stressed the importance of developing electric vehicles.

 

"Given the large population of our country, we need to make more efforts in developing zero-emission pure electric and fuel cell vehicles so that people can benefit from auto technology development," he adds.

 

Wan, 57, earned his Ph.D. at Clausthal University in Germany and then working as a senior engineer at Audi for nine years until 2000.

 

Wan supervised fuel cell research at Clausthal. He returned to China in 2001 to head the new energy vehicle engineering center at Shanghai-based Tongji University.

 

In 2000 he submitted a proposal to China's State Council, urging that the country's car industry "leap forward" by developing alternative energy.

 

He became president of Tongji University in 2003 and was appointed Minister of Science and Technology in 2007.

 

In late January, the Chinese government enacted a pilot program to subsidize hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles.

 

Under the program, a hybrid car buyer receives between 4,000 and 50,000 yuan ($585-$7,310), depending on the car's fuel efficiency.

 

An electric car buyer receives 60,000 yuan ($8,772), while a fuel cell car buyer gets 250,000 yuan ($36,550).

 

Attracted by the subsidies, at least seven domestic Chinese automakers including Chery Automobile Co. and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. say they have developed hybrid and electric vehicles.

 

But to date, only Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. has developed a fuel cell car with the automotive engineering school of Shanghai-based Tongji University.

 

Built on the platform of the Roewe 750 mid-sized sedan, the fuel cell vehicle can drive for 20 kilometers on one charge.

 

In early May, U.S. President Barack Obama eliminated $1.2 billion plan of his predecessor George W. Bush's to develop cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, saving $100 million a year.

 

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the government prefers to target more immediate energy-saving solutions.