China on Wednesday demanded a nationwide canceling of
restrictions on low-emission, economical cars, setting the end of
this March as the deadline.
The move is part of its efforts to reduce oil consumption and
air pollution, said a report issued by the National Development
and?Reform Commission?(NDRC) yesterday.
The report said that low-emission cars would be charged less
parking fees, an attempt to attract more consumers to buy
environment-friendly and energy-saving vehicles.
Small cars are also encouraged to be used as taxies and more
investment will be made in low-emission, oil-saving cars, including
research on engines, the report said.
To date, small autos are not permitted to run in more than 80
cities in the country despite Premier Wen
Jiabao's call for doing away with restrictions on cars with low
emission, low oil consumption and high efficiency last summer.
In Beijing for example, cars that have below 1.0-liter emission
are not permitted to travel on the Chang'an Boulevard, the longest
and most bustling street in the capital.
"If Beijing truly cancels (restrictions on small cars), my
0.8-emission liter Chery QQ (a Chinese domestic auto brand name)
can take me directly to the office. I won't have to make a detour
and it will save time and oil," said a man surnamed Gao, who works
in an office building on the Chang'an Boulevard.
Signals favoring low-emission cars are being read in the market.
According to statistics, the first nine months of this year
witnessed the number of cars below 1.6-liter emission standing at
1,240,900, accounting for 64.17 percent of the total and the sale
of cars below 1.0-liter emission rose by 93.69 percent year on year
to 248,000.
Industrial statistics show that China imports 40 percent of its
total oil consumption, one-third of which is used in car
engines.
Owing to soaring world oil prices, China has seen its refined
oil price rise five times last year.
The number of private cars is expected to reach 17 million by
the end of this year from the 2000 figure of 6.25 million, more
than double during the previous five-year period, according to data
from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2006)