According to the AI Finance app, China's hydrogen energy industry is entering a key period of accelerated development. Policy promotion is an important driving force for the rapid development of hydrogen energy vehicles. According to incomplete statistics, as of now, Shaanxi, Shandong, Jilin, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia's Erdos Autonomous Region and other places have implemented measures to exempt hydrogen energy vehicles from paying tolls on highways. In addition, several domestic and foreign companies have already launched and put into use hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In the future, hydrogen energy vehicles are expected to become a new growth driver for new energy vehicles and the overall auto industry.

Recently, Jilin and Shaanxi have issued policies to support the development of hydrogen energy vehicles.

On August 13, the official website of the Jilin Provincial Department of Transportation issued a notice on the preferential treatment of hydrogen vehicles traveling on Jilin Province's highways. From 0:00 on September 1 this year to 24:00 on August 31, 2026, hydrogen vehicles registered in Jilin Province with ETC equipment installed can travel free of charge between toll stations on the province's highways, and the corresponding toll fees will be uniformly paid by the provincial finance department.

Starting from September 1 this year, Shaanxi Province announced that hydrogen vehicles equipped with ETC devices will be fully exempt from highway tolls in the province until September 1, 2027. It is clear that the validity period of the policy of exempting hydrogen fuel vehicles from highway tolls is generally two years or longer, and not a short-term measure in various regions.

Zhong Weiping, Secretary General of the Commercial Vehicle Professional Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, stated that exempting hydrogen vehicles from high-speed tolls is an important attempt to transition from vehicle purchase subsidies to operating subsidies. Using subsidies to promote the development of hydrogen energy vehicles is another measure to further implement the national comprehensive promotion of new energy development.

In addition to free highways, many measures to support the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles have been introduced. For example, the "Jiangsu Province Long-term Plan for Hydrogen Industry Development (2024-2035)" mentions that by 2027, Jiangsu Province will have built around 100 commercial hydrogen refueling stations, with over 4,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in use. Chengdu, Sichuan Province is also making efforts in the field of hydrogen-powered vehicles. The "Chengdu City Action Plan for Promoting the Development and Application of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Commercial Vehicles (2024-2026)" states that by 2026, the city will strive to have a hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicle industry worth over 20 billion yuan and foster at least 5 leading companies nationwide in the entire vehicle or core component areas of the industry chain.

Under the positive influence of policies, the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market has also seen significant improvement. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to July this year, China's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sales reached 3,422 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%, reaching a historical high for the same period.

Various parties continue to promote the application of hydrogen energy in automotive products. Currently, many domestic and foreign companies have launched and put into use hydrogen fuel cell vehicle products.

After the launch of the ShenTu hydrogen fuel cell light trucks under Hyundai Motor's brand, large orders were received. In June of this year, a batch of hydrogen fuel cell light trucks used for logistics were delivered in large quantities.

SAIC Group initiated the Phoenix 1 fuel cell car project in 2001. Currently, SAIC's Jiehong Technology has successfully launched the Jiehong Qiyuan M4H fuel cell stack. At present, SAIC's Maxus MIFA hydrogen has a market share of up to 70% in the domestic fuel cell passenger vehicle market.

In the commercial vehicle sector, SAIC Maxus already mass-deployed the FCV90 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in Foshan, Guangdong in 2017 for use as a commuting bus in the local development zone.

During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Beiqi Foton provided 515 Euro Star hydrogen fuel cell buses to provide service support for the Yanqing and Zhangjiakou competition areas in Beijing.

From the overall trend of the industry, Sinolink believes that in 2024, the hydrogen energy and fuel cell industry will enter a period of accelerated growth, and the deployment of fuel cell vehicles and green hydrogen projects will be significantly accelerated.

Recently, China International Capital Corporation's view is that if the exemption of expressway tolls is promoted nationwide, it is expected to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks and drive the large-scale adoption of hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty trucks, accelerating the commercialization of the hydrogen energy industry chain.

Related concept stocks:

CIMC Enric (03899): Its subsidiary, CIMC Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., has successfully delivered 200 sets of high-performance Type III onboard hydrogen supply systems to Tianjin Rongcheng New Energy Technology Group Co., Ltd. These systems will be used in the production of 150kW high-power hydrogen energy heavy-duty trucks by Geely Yuan Cheng New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor Co., Ltd. The batch of vehicles will be gradually put into use in the inter-provincial trunk logistics, steel, port, and other bulk goods transportation scenes in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Bohai Rim area, boosting the upgrade of China's green transportation capacity.

CRRC Corporation (01766): The company stated on its interactive platform that it has laid out the hydrogen-related industry chain links based on its own industrial foundation, technological advantages, and market demand. It has also conducted a series of integrated industry-university-research cooperation with relevant universities and research institutes. In the field of hydrogen fuel cells, the company's subsidiary has been developing high-power fuel cell systems and fuel cell stacks for rail transit since 2017, with rated power of 50-350kW fuel cell systems, 100/200kW fuel cell stack technology, and achieved installation verification. In the field of new energy hydrogen production, the company's subsidiary is in a leading position in the domestic high-power IGBT hydrogen production power supply, and is conducting research on hydrogen production systems using electrolytic water and key technologies for mobile on-site hydrogen production.

Sinolink (09663): The company continues to increase its research and development investment in various key projects such as hydrogen fuel cell stacks, systems, power generation systems, and electrolytic water hydrogen production.

Jingcheng Mac (00187): On August 16, 2024, Beijing Tianhai (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company) and Shanghai Shunhua entered into a product purchase and sale framework agreement. Beijing Tianhai Group and Shanghai Shunhua Group will purchase or sell hydrogen products to each other from time to time.