RESTRICTING GASOLINE VEHICLES, INCENTIVIZING ELECTRIC VEHICLES: CHINA'S LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR VIETNAM

Abstract Urban air pollution and carbon-neutrality commitments are creating an urgent need to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). This article: (i) systematizes and evaluates Viet Nam’s current legal framework governing the green transport transition, including technical and safety standards, charging infrastructure, fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, battery recycling responsibilities, public procurement, and spatiotemporal restrictions on gasoline vehicles; (ii) conducts a selective comparison with China’s experience, where standards, infrastructure development, and incentive packages have been implemented in an integrated manner across the vehicle life cycle; and (iii) proposes a roadmap for legal refinement in Viet Nam. The findings identify three major gaps: (1) legal fragmentation; (2) incentive and regulatory instruments that are insufficient to drive large-scale behavioral change; and (3) the absence of effective inter-sectoral coordination and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms. The article recommends a “risk- and life-cycle-based legal toolkit,” including interoperable standards for charging infrastructure; performance-, safety-, and battery-recycling-conditional incentives; low-emission zones and phased restrictions on gasoline vehicles; public procurement as a market-pull mechanism; and an inter-agency coordination model supported by periodic M&E indicators.