作者用英文写作，原载于2001年第4期英国〈汽车世界〉行业杂志

　　UK Issue 4, 2001

　　On the spot : China

　　What to do about emissions in China

　　Just over three years ago, China declared war on air pollution in big cities. The extensive official actions have had an enormous impact on automakers and vehicle owners alike, reports Zhong Shi.

　　China’s national standards for light-duty vehicle emissions were introduced in 1989, a decade after similar standards were introduced in Europe. However, they were scarcely enforced for most of the 1990s-just as the number of vehicles in circulation in the country doubled. In the big cities, numbers multiplied several times. Automotive exhaust contamination became a major source of air pollution in China’s cities.

　　The exhaust problems in Beijing, China’s capital, were particularly serious. The city has a vehicle population of 1.5 million, or 10 per cent of the country’s total. As China’s economy grew, the number of newly registered vehicles has increased at an average annual rate of 15 per cent during the 1990s.

　　However, studies indicate that 74 per cent of the hydrocarbons, 63 per cent of the carbon monoxide and 37 per cent of the nitrogen oxide in the city’s air came from tailpipe emissions. Indeed, worsening air pollution has become a key barrier to Beijing’s application to stage the Olympic Games of 2008.

　　Action was required. Four additional national measures concerning vehicle emissions were issued in March 199 and took effect at the start of 2000. Thirteen ministries initiated what were known as “National actions for clean vehicles” in April 1999, with 12 big cities chosen for the initial trials. Since then, a number of secondary cities have been added to the programme. Leaded gasoline was phased out completely in July last year.

　　Packages of even stricter local air pollution control regulations were gradually introduced, starting in 1998. For example, a new emission standard for light-duty vehicles came into effect in Beijing in January 1999, one year earlier than in other cities. Another standard for medium-and heavy-duty vehicles was put in place the following year. Other big cities like Shanghai followed a similar course, setting off a chain reaction in other Chinese cities.

　　The repercussions for the auto industry were extensive. Beijing has become to China what California is to the United States in terms of pioneering vehicle emission regulations. Foreign and domestic automakers were extremely concerned at Beijing’s actions, though none opposed them directly or publicly. But voices of disagreement were heard in the media beyond Beijing. In two sample cases, China Automotive News traced lawsuits over two years, backing car owners against suits bought by the Beijing Environmental Protection Agency(BEPA).

　　Many automotive experts and university professors disagreed with the agency’s technical standards. BEPA decided, for example, that the 180,000 carburettor-equipped cars registered after 1995 had to be retrofitted with three-way catalytic converters.

　　The agency’s opponents cast doubts about the effectiveness of this, maintaining that some approved converters were technically unacceptable. The quality of the converters-mostly imported-were not of a uniform standard.

　　Meanwhile, the gasoline available at the pumps is widely regarded as of poor or variable quality because of problems at the oil refineries, in transportation and in the dubious operating standards at some gas stations. Besides, the lead content of gasoline damages converters sooner or later, no matter whether a car is equipped with electronically controlled fuel injection or a carburettor.

　　While new vehicles have to comply with new regulations-and old vehicles with previous regulations-lawyers question BEPA’s requirements. A car owner has to buy and install a catalytic converter approved by BEPA, but does not know whether the equipment is of good quality. If there is a problem, who is responsible-BEPA or the supplier?

　　When the media used the lawsuits to criticise BEPA, the reports attracted a lot of public support. Embarrassed, the agency acknowledges that the events will influence future decision-making, as well as regulations pending in other ministries, though existing regulations remain unchanged.

　　When national vehicle standards are put into operation, it is understood that the principles adopted differ from BEPA’s. For example, retrofitting existing vehicles with catalytic converters will not be recommended. Neither is it expected that local governments will be allowed to impose regional standards different from those which apply nationally.

　　At present, these are controversial issues in the central government. Different ministries are pursuing different standards for new vehicle emissions. All automakers will suffer as a result-

　　unless the State Council steps in to unify national standards.

　　---- Zhong Shi is a freelance writer based in Beijing