Increasing public awareness of environmental protection and health have quickened the step of renewing public transport vehicles to make them more environment-friendly in major Chinese cities.

The move demonstrates the Chinese government's determination to alleviate auto emission which is blamed for causing serious air pollution in urban areas, insiders said.

Tianjin, a north China port city and the fourth largest auto production base of China, saw an energy-saving and environment-friendly passenger bus rolling off production line recently.

The first batch of 15 such buses, which burn compressed natural gas, are expected to run on Tianjin's express public transport routes at the end of this year, according to local transportation department.

Xu Yajian, general manager of Irizar (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. which produces the novel bus, said that his company plans to manufacture more these buses for major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Operation of Irizar buses, which meet both requirements of energy-saving and environmental protection, marks the beginning of a new era of environment-friendly public transport in China, insiders said.

Previously, Liu Xiaoming, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications, announced that Beijing would renew its public transport vehicles which do not meet the environment-friendly requirements set by the government before the 2008 Olympic Games.

Beijing began renewing its public transport vehicles in 1998 and so far the city has renewed and put into use a total of 2,978 electrified urban buses and long-distance buses that meet the Euro III emission standards, Liu said.

The Chinese government has intensified the research and development of environment-friendly public transport automobiles and clean energy resources to deal with pollution caused by motor vehicles in recent years.   

Currently, Dalian, Shenyang, Changsha, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Xi'an and Xiamen cities have begun popularizing environment-friendly public transport automobiles and clean fuel such as compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas. 

China designated 12 cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen as pilot cities to promote the use of clean fuel automobiles in 1999. In 2003, 16 cities were approved as key areas to popularize clean-fuel automobiles. 

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2004)