China
will introduce new motor vehicle emission standards that will cut automobile pollutants
by 30 % in 2007, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) has
said.
The new standards were equivalent to the Euro III standards in
the European Union, Zhao Yingmin, head of SEPA's department of science, technology
and standards told Xinhua.
A more stringent standard, equivalent to Euro
IV will take effect in 2010, he said.
China is the world's third largest
automobile producer, with an annual production of more than five million. Thirty
million vehicles run on Chinese roads.
In major cities like Beijing,
motor vehicles have become the major source of air pollution.
China began
to enforce Euro II emission standards nationwide in September 2003.
However,
major cities acted much earlier with Beijing enforcing Euro II standards in 2002
and Shanghai in March 2003.
The enforcement of the new standards would
produce a major environmental dividend and raise the international competitive
edge of Chinese auto producers by forcing them to upgrade technologies, Zhao said.
|
