(Yicai Global) Aug. 15 -- With over a million new-energy vehicles coming into the Chinese market, the Ministry of Public Security is looking to promote special license plates for electric automobiles nationwide.

The ministry hopes to get the plates into all cities across the country in the first half of next year.

China began piloting the new-energy license plates on Dec. 1 last year. To date, they've been trialed in five cities: Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuxi, Jinan and Shenzhen, with some 76,000 being issued.

Another ten cities, including Hebei province's Baoding and Jilin province's Changjun, will be included in the pilot program from November this year, the ministry said. It hopes to push the license plates into municipalities and at least one or two cities in all provinces and autonomous regions, including provincial capitals, by the end of this year.

The issuing fee for the plate will remain at CNY100 (USD15).

The plates, which are green to represent "eco-friendly travel, environmental protection and science and technology," will have a special logo and a license number comprising six digits instead of five.

This means China is likely to introduce different vehicle management policies at a national level and focus on new-energy models, an industry insider said, adding that the country will encourage the use and purchase of the eco-friendly cars through special parking rates and traffic permissions. Some local governments have already looked into preferential policies for new-energy vehicles, such as allowing them to use bus lanes, offering free parking, and exempting them from tolls.

Vehicles deemed 'new-energy' include battery-only, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell models, according to the Development Plan for Energy-Saving and New Energy Automotive Industry (2012 to 2020) issued by the State Council, China's cabinet. By 2020, production and sales of battery-only and hybrid vehicles are forecast to reach more than five million.