[SMM Hydrogen Energy Policy Update] Henan Waives Toll Fees for Hydrogen-Powered Trucks

Recently, the People's Government of Henan Province issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing Several Policy Measures to Support Enterprises in Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiency in Henan Province."

The document specifies the implementation of expressway toll discounts and subsidies for commercial truck renewal. From January 25, 2025, to December 31, 2025, hydrogen-powered trucks passing through toll roads in Henan Province will be exempt from tolls, while electric trucks will enjoy a 30% discount. From July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, differentiated toll policies will be applied to nine road sections, including the Henan section of the Hubei Expressway. Support will be provided for the retirement and renewal of commercial trucks meeting National IV and lower emission standards, with fixed-amount subsidies ranging from 10,000 to 140,000 yuan based on different conditions: retiring only, retiring and renewing, or solely purchasing new energy urban cold-chain distribution trucks. Before December 31, 2027, a 50% reduction in vehicle purchase tax will be applied to trailer purchases.

Enterprises are encouraged to adopt the generation-grid-load-storage integrated model to locally construct renewable energy projects such as photovoltaic, wind power, biomass power, and waste heat/pressure power generation, thereby increasing the proportion of green electricity usage. Market mechanisms will be leveraged to drive cost reductions through coal power competition, wind and solar power market entry, and power grid optimization, while refining medium and long-term electricity trading mechanisms and moderately expanding external power procurement.

The policies are as follows:

Notice of the People's Government of Henan Province on Printing and Distributing Several Policy Measures to Support Enterprises in Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiency in Henan Province

Yu Zheng [2025] No. 18

To the People's Governments of All Provincial-Level Cities, the Administrative Committee of Jiyuan Demonstration Zone and Aviation Port Area, and All Departments of the Provincial People's Government:

The "Several Policy Measures to Support Enterprises in Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiency in Henan Province" are hereby issued to you for earnest implementation.

People's Government of Henan Province

Aug 4, 2025

Several Policy Measures to Support Enterprises in Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiency in Henan Province

To thoroughly implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping during his field trip to Henan, fully implement the decisions of the 9th Plenary Session of the 11th Provincial Party Committee, and focus on the "1+2+4+N" target task system, these policy measures are formulated based on systematic thinking, addressing both symptoms and root causes, and coordinated efforts across factors, services, industries, and management to reduce enterprise costs, in line with provincial realities.

I. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce Enterprise R&D Costs

1. Supporting Enterprise Technological Innovation. Key industry chain enterprises are encouraged to collaborate with upstream and downstream enterprises and research institutions to establish provincial-level manufacturing innovation centers. Project-based support will be provided in the form of a 30% subsidy for actual investments in technology introduction and the purchase of R&D instruments, equipment, and software, capped at 5 million yuan. The following products are supported: enterprises' R&D and application of the first set (batch) of major technical equipment, the first batch of new materials, the first version of software, the first set of core electronic components, and other products. Rewards will be granted based on a certain percentage of sales revenue in accordance with relevant regulations, with a maximum annual reward of 5 million yuan per enterprise. Support will be provided for enterprises to carry out key core technology research in the industry chain. For major research projects, support will be given at 30% of the total approved project investment. 50% of the total subsidy funds will be disbursed initially, and the remaining funds will be disbursed after the project passes the acceptance inspection. The maximum subsidy amount for a single project will not exceed 20 million yuan. For enterprises that take the lead in undertaking major technical research projects of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, this policy will be implemented by analogy. (Responsible departments: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Department of Finance)

II. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce the Cost of Enterprise Transformation and Upgrading

2. Supporting enterprises' technological transformation. Implementing policies for equipment renewal loan interest subsidies and financing lease subsidies to support enterprises' equipment renewal and technological transformation. For major technological transformation demonstration projects with an investment of over 50 million yuan, subsidies will be granted at 15% of the actual investment in equipment and software, with a maximum subsidy of 10 million yuan. Encouraging national-level specialized, refined, and new "Little Giant" enterprises to strengthen technological transformation. During the validity period of the "Little Giant" title, subsidies will be granted at no more than 20% of the actual investment in equipment and software in the form of supporting project construction, with a maximum subsidy of 5 million yuan. (Responsible departments: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Department of Finance)

3. Supporting enterprises' digital transformation. Implementing a full-coverage action for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, compiling a "one map and four lists" for the digital transformation of key industry chains (a scenario map and four element lists: data elements, knowledge models, tool software, and talent skills), and continuously providing free diagnostic services for enterprises' digital transformation. Supporting the construction of characteristic and regional industrial internet platforms, and providing post-subsidies to platform construction units based on a certain percentage of the actual investment in hardware and software, with a maximum subsidy of 5 million yuan. Further promoting the construction of the provincial artificial intelligence industry empowerment center, accelerating the demonstration of AI applications in key fields such as healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, culture and tourism, and transportation, and providing one-time financial support of up to 2 million yuan based on construction tasks, empowerment effects, promotion and application, etc. Organizing the creation of demonstration counties (cities, districts) for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, and allocating award and subsidy funds to selected counties (cities, districts) according to a standard of no more than 10 million yuan each. 50% of the award and subsidy funds will be disbursed in the first year of the pilot implementation period, and the remaining funds will be disbursed after passing the assessment and evaluation at the end of the implementation period. The award and subsidy funds will be used by the selected counties (cities, districts) in a specialized manner to support enterprises in implementing new technological transformations such as "intelligent transformation, digital transformation, and network connection," green transformation, and digital collaborative transformation of the industry chain and supply chain in the form of supporting project construction. ((Responsible departments: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Department of Finance, based on their respective responsibilities)

4. Support enterprises in green transformation. Enterprises (projects, platforms) that have been recognized as national-level green factories, green supply chain management enterprises, or other pilot demonstrations or titles by the State Council or the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will be provided with subsidies based on the support for project construction, not exceeding 20% of the actual investment in equipment and software, with a maximum subsidy of 5 million yuan. Accelerate the ultra-low emission transformation in the steel industry, and promptly guide steel enterprises that have completed the transformation to apply for the cessation of the implementation of the policy of increasing electricity and water prices. (Responsible departments: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Provincial Department of Finance, based on their respective responsibilities)

III. Strengthen efforts to reduce enterprise labor costs

5. Implement preferential policies for social insurance subsidies. Enterprises that recruit individuals with employment difficulties and pay social insurance premiums will be provided with social insurance subsidies based on the actual amount of social insurance premiums paid for these individuals, excluding the portion that should be paid by the individuals themselves. Small and micro enterprises that recruit college graduates who have graduated in the current year or have been unemployed within two years after graduation, sign labor contracts with them for more than one year, and pay social insurance premiums for them will be provided with social insurance subsidies for up to one year, excluding the portion that should be paid by the college graduates themselves. Continue to implement the policy of temporarily reducing unemployment and work-related injury insurance premium rates, continue to implement the policy of reducing work-related injury insurance premium rates by 20%, and implement the unemployment insurance premium rate at 1%, with the implementation period until the end of 2025. (Responsible department: Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security)

6. Continue to implement the policy of returning unemployment insurance premiums for stable employment. Enterprises that have paid unemployment insurance premiums in full for more than 12 months and have not laid off employees or have a layoff rate not higher than the control target of the national urban unemployment rate in the previous year (for enterprises with 30 or fewer insured employees, the layoff rate is not higher than 20% of the total number of insured employees) may apply for the return of unemployment insurance premiums for stable employment. Large enterprises will be returned 30% of the actual unemployment insurance premiums paid by the enterprise and its employees in the previous year, while small and medium-sized enterprises will be returned 60%, with the implementation period until the end of 2025. (Responsible department: Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security)

7. Continue to implement the policy of one-time subsidies for expanding employment. Enterprises that recruit college graduates who have graduated in the current year or have been unemployed within two years after graduation, as well as registered unemployed youth aged 16-24, sign labor contracts with them, and pay unemployment, work-related injury, and employee pension insurance premiums in full for more than three months as required will be provided with a one-time subsidy for expanding employment at a standard of 1,500 yuan per person, with the implementation period until the end of 2025. (Responsible department: Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security)

IV. Strengthen efforts to reduce enterprise financing costs

8. Enhance efficient and targeted credit services. Improve the financing coordination mechanism for small and micro enterprises, continue to carry out the "Thousands of Enterprises and Tens of Thousands of Households Visit" campaign, leverage the roles of provincial, municipal, and county-level financial service specialists and financial salons, implement initiatives to break the ice on first-time loans and expand credit loans for technology-based enterprises, refine the medium and long-term loan project reserve and referral mechanism for the manufacturing sector, fully utilize the national 300 billion yuan in additional re-lending for technological innovation and technological transformation, as well as the central fiscal interest subsidy policy, and achieve 160 billion yuan in new loans for technology-based enterprises by 2025. Guide commercial banks to implement a moderately loose monetary policy, reasonably determine enterprise loan interest rates based on the Loan Prime Rate, their own funding costs, and other factors, and achieve a steady decline in the weighted average interest rate of newly issued loans. Establish a provincial-level credit reporting company, enhance the service functions of the provincial financing credit service platform, expand the scope of credit information sharing and application, and innovate financing credit service products. Eligible small and micro enterprises can apply for a maximum of 4 million yuan in entrepreneurial guaranteed loans, with a loan term not exceeding 2 years, and receive a 50% fiscal interest subsidy based on the actual interest rate. Vigorously rectify the chaos of illegal intermediaries in the financial sector. (Responsible divisions: Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Party Committee Financial Office, Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department, Henan Financial Regulatory Bureau, and the Henan Branch of the People's Bank of China)

9. Expand enterprise financing channels. Strengthen policy publicity and guidance, support eligible enterprises to issue characteristic bonds such as technological innovation bonds, green bonds, and rural revitalization bonds. Conduct specialized training for key enterprises preparing for listing, coordinate and resolve issues encountered during the listing process through provincial, municipal, and county-level linkage, and support eligible enterprises to actively connect with multi-level capital markets. Support publicly listed firms to become stronger and better through M&A, re-financing, and other capital market policy tools. Promote government investment funds to provide equity financing services for enterprises throughout their life cycles. (Responsible divisions: Provincial Party Committee Financial Office, Henan Branch of the People's Bank of China, and Henan Securities Regulatory Bureau)

10. Implement preferential tax and fee policies. Implement policies such as VAT refunds for retained input, additional input tax deductions for advanced manufacturing, pre-tax additional deductions for enterprise R&D expenses, and reductions in cultural undertakings construction fees. Exempt VAT on interest income from small loans issued by financial institutions to small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households, and exempt stamp duty on loan contracts signed between financial institutions and small and micro enterprises. Strictly manage the establishment and approval of administrative and institutional fee items, establish and refine fee catalog lists based on administrative and institutional fees, enterprise-related administrative and institutional fees, government-managed funds, and provincial administrative and institutional fees, and strictly regulate fee collection work in accordance with specified items. (Responsible divisions: Provincial Finance Department and Taxation Bureau)

11. We will advance the clearance of overdue payments owed to enterprises. We will fully implement the measures for handling complaints about payment delays to small and medium-sized enterprises, optimize the operational mechanism for handling such complaints, leverage the national "1+32" platform for registering (and complaining about) payment defaults to small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the closed-loop management mechanism, enhance the effectiveness of complaint handling, and expedite the transfer, processing, follow-up, and supervision of key leads. We will guide state-owned enterprises to strictly adhere to the Regulation on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, ensuring timely and full payment of arrears to small and medium-sized enterprises. (The Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology and the SASAC of the Provincial Government will be responsible according to their respective duties.)

V. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce Enterprise Energy Costs

12. Strengthening the service guarantee for the supply of elements such as electricity, gas, and water. Enterprises are encouraged to build renewable energy power generation projects, such as photovoltaic, wind, biomass, and waste heat and pressure power generation, locally and nearby in accordance with the integrated generation-grid-load-storage model, to increase the proportion of green electricity used by enterprises. We will leverage the role of market mechanisms, take multiple measures to drive down costs through competition in coal-fired power, market entry for wind and solar power, and potential-tapping in the power grid, optimize the medium and long-term power trading mechanism, and appropriately expand the scale of external power supply. We will accelerate the integration of urban gas enterprises, further rationalize the downstream gas supply system for natural gas, and reduce intermediate gas supply links. On the premise of conforming to urban and rural development plans, as well as special plans for natural gas and gas development, we will explore pilot projects for direct supply to large users. Enterprises using mixed water will be subject to classified metering to actually reduce the total water cost. We will arrange "service stewards" for large industrial water users to assist in formulating water usage plans, improving water-saving measures, strengthening daily water usage supervision, providing professional services such as leak detection, maintenance, and water-saving renovations, and promptly issuing warnings for abnormal water usage. (The Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Provincial Department of Water Resources, and the Provincial Power Company will be responsible according to their respective duties.)

VI. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce Enterprise Logistics Costs

13. Implementing preferential policies for road tolls and subsidies for the renewal of operating trucks. From January 25, 2025, to December 31, 2025, hydrogen-powered trucks traveling on toll roads in our province will be exempted from tolls, and electric trucks traveling on toll roads in our province will enjoy a 30% discount on tolls. From July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, differentiated toll policies will be implemented for nine sections, including the Henan section of the Hubei-Beijing Expressway. We will support the retirement and renewal of operating trucks with National IV emission standards or below, and provide fixed subsidies ranging from 10,000 to 140,000 yuan based on different conditions for trucks that are only retired, retired and renewed, or newly purchased as new energy urban cold chain distribution trucks. Before December 31, 2027, a 50% reduction in vehicle purchase tax will be applied to trailers. (The Provincial Department of Transportation and the Provincial Taxation Bureau will be responsible according to their respective duties.)

VII. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce Enterprise Land Costs

14. We will strengthen the service and guarantee of land supply. We will deepen the reform of the "standard land + commitment system" for industrial land, encouraging all newly added industrial land to be supplied as "standard land." We will actively explore mixed development and utilization of land, allowing reasonable conversion between logistics and warehousing land and Class I industrial land under the premise of compliance with planning. Under the premise of compliance with planning and without changing the land use, enterprises that increase the utilization rate and floor area ratio of their own industrial land will no longer be required to pay additional land prices. We will encourage the supply of land for commercial use (excluding residential land), industrial project land, and land for public administration and public service facilities through long-term leasing, leasing before transfer, and flexible-term transfer. We will support the transfer of land with a pre-approved plan, incorporating relevant conditions such as urban design and construction project design plans into the land supply plan. After signing the contract for the transfer of the right to use state-owned construction land, enterprises may apply for the construction land planning permit and the construction project planning permit together with the project approval, authorization, or filing procedures. (Responsible department: Provincial Department of Natural Resources)

VIII. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce Import and Export Costs for Enterprises

15. Improving the efficiency of cargo customs clearance. We will carry out special actions to optimize customs clearance, actively promote the "separate container shipment" model for lithium power batteries, advance the pilot supervision of "bonded + ERP," explore and promote the pilot import of "medicinal and edible dual-use" products, and collaboratively promote the construction of smart customs and smart ports. We will strengthen the cultivation of Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs), providing one-time support of no more than 300,000 yuan to newly certified enterprises, and further implement measures to facilitate customs clearance. (Responsible departments: Provincial Department of Commerce and Zhengzhou Customs, according to their respective responsibilities)

16. Increasing support for enterprises' imports and exports. We will implement preferential policies for integrated circuits, encouraged projects, technological innovation, and major technical equipment, promoting "rapid review of duty exemptions" and supporting the import of advanced technical equipment, key parts, and raw materials. We will cancel the registration requirements for overseas warehouse enterprises, simplify the declaration procedures for export documents, cancel the requirement for transmitting payment receipt information, and implement convenient measures such as electronic tax guarantees and cross-customs-district returns for cross-border e-commerce exports. For foreign trade enterprises that conduct overseas management system certification, product certification, patent certification, and trademark registration, financial support will be provided at a ratio of no more than 70% of the certification and registration fees. (Responsible departments: Provincial Department of Commerce and Zhengzhou Customs, according to their respective responsibilities)

IX. Strengthening Efforts to Reduce Enterprises' Operating Costs

17. Improving the quality and efficiency of enterprise services. We will improve the regularized promotion mechanism for key matters in "efficiently accomplishing one thing," accelerating the application of electronic licenses, electronic materials, electronic seals, and electronic signatures in the field of government services, and achieving "one-stop online processing and seamless switching" for enterprise migration registration and related businesses. We will continue to deepen the reform of environmental impact assessments, implementing pilot policies for environmental impact assessment reforms such as bundled approval of reporting forms and simplification of reporting documents (forms). Establish a catalog system for enterprise-related charges, conduct a comprehensive review of fee policies affecting businesses, and continue to clean up and rectify areas with frequent violations such as administrative approval intermediary service agencies. Improve the "Five Ones" credit restoration mechanism featuring cross-platform sharing and inter-departmental coordination. Implement pre-expiration reminders for licenses and permits, explore the establishment of a "hassle-free renewal" mechanism, and accelerate the rollout of "scan-to-enter" contactless monitoring. (Responsible agencies: Provincial Administration for Examination and Approval, Government Information Management Bureau; Department of Justice; Market Supervision Administration; Development and Reform Commission; Department of Ecology and Environment, according to their respective duties)

18. Enhance the comprehensive service capacity of industrial parks. Support the construction of customized standard factory buildings in industrial parks, develop "industrial affordable housing" for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises on a rental-only basis, and encourage operators to offer rent discounts to enterprises leasing industrial space (including ancillary facilities) within parks. Reasonably allocate the construction of talent apartments, affordable rental housing, and new-type maker exchange spaces. Coordinate the layout and construction of power infrastructure such as incremental distribution networks and generation-grid-load-storage systems in industrial parks, encourage the market tender approach for obtaining water, electricity, and gas franchise rights to achieve unified supply. Accelerate the establishment of digital transformation promotion centers in industrial parks to provide enterprises with digital transformation solutions. (Responsible agencies: Provincial Development and Reform Commission; Department of Natural Resources; Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; Power Grid Company, according to their respective duties)

19. Guide and support the establishment of sound modern enterprise systems. Continue to deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, implement tenure-based and contract-based management for executives with greater intensity and hierarchical classification, strengthen "staff control and efficiency improvement" management, strictly control total employment, improve the linkage mechanism between performance evaluation and compensation distribution, and tie total employee wages to total profits. Conduct the "Hundreds, Thousands, Tens of Thousands" training program for central China's private entrepreneurs in the new era and specialized training on modern enterprise systems with Chinese characteristics, continue the "Blue and Green Relay" initiative for private sector representatives, and annually select a group of high-quality private enterprises for categorized and tiered training to enhance modern enterprise system capabilities. (Responsible agencies: Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission; Federation of Industry and Commerce, according to their respective duties)

10. Strengthen Efforts to Reduce Enterprise Information Acquisition Costs

20. Continue to conduct large-scale enterprise visits for policy observation and service. Focus the visits on solving enterprise problems and optimizing the business environment, improve the "900+600" key enterprise support service system, concentrate on the "Twelve Visits, Twelve Promotions" key tasks, establish a three-tier (provincial, municipal, and county) closed-loop mechanism for handling enterprise feedback from service visits, optimize and enrich the policy database of the provincial direct policy delivery and demand response platform, launch a policy "calculator" function, and by 2025, conduct 500 policy briefing sessions, 1,000 production-marketing matchmaking events, 1,200 production-finance matchmaking events, 800 industry-academia-research matchmaking events, 10,000 talent-employment matchmaking events, 600 industrial investment promotion events, and 120 asset optimization matchmaking events. ((Responsible according to their respective duties: Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and Provincial Administrative Approval and Government Information Management Bureau)

Source: People's Government of Henan Province