The new standard will bring about a sharp drop in the amount of main pollutants in vehicle emissions, said Pan Shuda, a senior engineer with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, at the news release on Thursday.

For example, under the new standard, nitrogen and oxygen compounds from light-duty vehicles will be decreased about 55 per cent and particulates from heavy-duty ones will be reduced by 55 per cent in the near future, she said.

Vehicle producers are required to submit application to SEPA from August 1 for the examination and certification of their product models, said Yin Gai, head of SEPA's science and technology division.

The administration will announce which models of light-duty vehicles and heavy-duty diesel vehicles meet the Euro 2 standard.

On January 1 next year, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau will check such vehicles to ascertain that they comply with the standard, Yin added.

"From January 1 next year, there will be no light-duty vehicles and heavy-duty diesel vehicles that do not meet the new standard in the Beijing market," said Li Lei, an official of SEPA's pollution control division.

In China there are some vehicle models that already meet Euro 2 standards and have been given low-emission sales tax reductions. Such vehicles will not be re-examined this time, Yin said.

He said the initial plan was that Beijing would adopt the Euro 2 emission standard for light-duty vehicles after 2005 and for heavy-duty diesel vehicles after 2004.

Because of the 2008 Olympic Games and to improve the air quality in the capital, the Beijing municipal government decided to adopt the Euro 2 standard ahead of time, Yin said.

He said that after discussion, SEPA and relevant State Council departments agreed that Beijing is ready to institute the standard in terms of legislation, fuel supply and emission inspection.

Furthermore, he said that key automobile producers in China are equipped to manufacture vehicles that meet the standard.

According to Pan, nearly 80 per cent of the light-duty vehicles and 50 per cent of the heavy-duty vehicles in use actually meet the standard.

Vehicle emissions are an important contributor to the air pollution in Beijing.

(China Daily July 26, 2002)