China should use more diesel engines to improve the environment, Bernd Leissner, president of Volkswagen (VW) Asia-Pacific, has said in Beijing.

Leissner said China's auto industry developed rapidly in recent years, with the volume of sedan sales hitting 1.12 million in 2002, a new record high.

According to experts' predictions, by the end of 2020, China will need another 11 million new cars annually to satisfy the increasing demand, which means that much more harmful influence on the environment.

Leissner said that in recent years, fuel cell autos have been researched as an environmentally-friendly alternative, but it will still take some time to put this type of auto into operation.

VW has a way out by using diesel engines, Leissner said, which are highly efficient, energy-saving and environmentally-friendly.

Compared with gas engines, diesel engines have 45 percent less greenhouse gas emission, and use 30 percent less fuel, Leissner said, adding that by the end of 2010, if all Chinese sedans use diesel engines, some 75 million liters of fuel will be saved everyday.

He said the quality of fuel was also very important when China decided to implement the same emission standards as the international advanced standard before 2010.

In the past four years, VW has launched in China a series of activities themed as "creating a new diesel era," including introducing environmentally-friendly diesel technology to China, and helping organize related international seminars in China.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2003)