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TAIYUAN, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- When he arrived in Taiyuan for a vacation, Beijinger Liu Xiaohui was surprised by how green Shanxi was, despite being China's major coal-producing province.
"So many of the city's taxis are electric. Taiyuan is miles ahead of Beijing and Shanghai in this respect," said Liu.
For many people, the province, which has produced about a quarter of China's coal since 1949, is synonymous with dusty, gray skies.
Sources with the Shanxi Provincial Commission of Economy and Information Technology told Xinhua that the province was planning to make Taiyuan, the provincial capital, and the cities of Jinzhong and Jincheng into production bases for electric cars.
Several automobile manufacturers have invested in Shanxi. By 2020, the province's annual electric car output is expected to exceed 120,000 units while electric car ownership will surpass 200,000.
The province will also spend 5.2 billion yuan on the construction of a recharging network, which will include centralized charging stations in all of its 283 cities, 60 intercity fast-charging stations, 190,000 recharging points and an electronic service platform.
By the end of 2016, fast-charging stations will be installed in 38 expressway service areas.
To make Taiyuan the country's first city to only have electric taxis, the local government began to phase out its 8,292 gas-powered taxis at the end of last year.
An electric taxi with a range of 400 km per charge, which should cost309,800 yuan can be bought for 89,000 yuan, thanks to government stipends and deductions.
A taxi driver, surnamed Liu, welcomed the change as it cuts down on fuel expenses.
He said electric car manufacturing would mean cleaner air and a better environment, which would in turn boost tourism and bring in more customers.
With cultural relics dating back some 20,000 years, Shanxi is often called the birthplace of Chinese culture.
A latest report published by the local Tourism Bureau, showed that from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4, the province's 36 major scenic areas have received 3.9 million visitors, up 3.94 percent, and generated an aggregated revenue of 133.8 million yuan, up 11.08 percent from the same period of last year.
