(Yicai Global) Aug. 29 -- The Beijing municipal government has issued new regulations requiring new parking lots to be equipped with charging facilities as it aims to boost the city's infrastructure for new-energy vehicles.

More specifically, the rules require state car parks to include charging spaces, while residential parking areas need to be built in a manner that will allow for charging piles to be retrofitted.

The recently-released document sets quantitative limits for charging facilities in new parking lots, requiring a proportion of no less than 25 percent of spaces are set aside for NEV charging at office buildings, no less than 20 percent in commercial parking lots and no less than 15 percent at hospitals, schools and other similar areas, Beijing Daily reported on Aug. 29.

In new residential parking areas, all spaces must be constructed in a way that allows residents to directly install charging piles without the need to modify the parking space.

As of the end of July 2017, the number of new-energy vehicles in Beijing was 141,400 and there were a total of 97,500 charging piles in the city; 68,700 for personal use and 17,500 public charging spaces at shopping malls and traffic hubs.

The new regulations also require that charging facilities be incorporated into the transformation of existing parking lots in office areas, shopping malls and residential areas, and help relevant companies and neighborhood committees find support to do so.

Beijing plans to have full coverage of highway charging by the end of 2017, and the new regulations push for an average service radius of just 0.9 kilometers for public charging by 2020.