(Yicai Global) June 25 -- China's northern coastal metropolis of Tianjin has become the fourth most quick adopter of new energy vehicles in the world's largest NEV market.

Tianjin, an emergent first-tier city, has 88,900 NEVs, which is the biggest number after the metropolitan cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, Tianjin Daily reported yesterday. Individual consumers make up about 50 percent of this number.

Ride-hailing sector operates some 21,000 electric cars, and logistics 14,000, while the city's postal service runs more than 1,300 electric vehicles. The municipality has more than 3,400 all-electric buses in operation, over 30 percent of the total. Sanitation and government agencies make up the rest of the big number.

One of the underlying reasons for the surging NEV sales is that Tianjin has subsidized the market since 2013, which has significantly reduced the cost of such vehicles. Sales of green energy vehicles made up over 16 percent of all new car sales in the city last year. China has remained the world's largest NEV market for three consecutive years, with some 777,000 cars sold last year, state-backed Xinhua News Agency reported.

Tianjin has matched the growing number of green energy cars with public battery charging services. A recharging network with a radius of 2 kilometers covers the city's central urban area and the manufacturing center of Binhai New District. All service areas in highways also offer battery charging.

Editor: Emmi Laine