Background
Vehicle and engine emission standards are adopted at the federal level in China by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). First emission regulations became effective in the 1990s [Regulation GB 14761]. Chinese standards are based on European regulations, which are being adopted with a certain time delay.
Large metropolitan areas, including Beijing and Shanghai, have adopted more stringent regulations on an accelerated schedule, ahead of the rest of the country. Beijing is to implement Euro 4 standards for light duty vehicles in 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics.
Light-Duty Vehicles
Chinese implementation schedule of European emission standards for new passenger cars and light duty commercial vehicles is listed in Table 1. The nationwide dates generally refer to new type approvals—first registration of existing vehicle models is typically allowed for one more year. In some cases, conformity of production requirements were relaxed and/or delayed relative to the type approval requirements.
Light-duty vehicle categories are based on the EU classification with some changes:
- Type 1 vehicles: M1 vehicles for no more than 6 passengers including driver, and GVW ≤ 2.5 ton,
- Type 2 vehicles: Other light-duty vehicles (including N1 light commercial vehicles) further divided into three classes based on the reference mass.
| Reference | Date | Region | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Euro 1 | 2000.01 (2000.07†) | Nationwide | |
| Euro 2 | 2002.08 | Beijing | |
| 2003.03 | Shanghai | ||
| gasoline: 2004.07a (2005.07†) diesel: 2003.09 | Nationwide | ||
| Euro 3 | 2005.12 | Beijing | European OBD from 2006.12 |
| 2006.10 | Guangzhou | With European OBD | |
| 2007.01 | Shanghai | With European OBD | |
| 2007.07 | Nationwide | EOBD: Type 1 2008.07; Type 2 2010.07 | |
| Euro 4 | gasoline: 2008.03 diesel: 2007.01 | Beijing | |
| 2010.07 | Nationwide | ||
| † production conformity a - first registration |
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New gasoline vehicles must also meet an evaporative emission limit of 2 g/test (SHED).
Durability requirements are 80,000 km for Euro 3, and 100,000 km for Euro 4.
Heavy-Duty Engines
Emission standards for new heavy-duty truck and bus engines are based on the European standards [Regulation GB 17691-2005]. The implementation dates are listed in Table 2. The dates generally refer to new type approvals—first registration of existing vehicle models is typically allowed for one more year.
| Reference | Date | Comments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Euro I | 2000.09 | ||||
| Euro II | 2003.09 (2004.09†) | ||||
| Euro III | 2008.01 | Beijing region: 2005.12 | |||
| Euro IV | 2010.01 | Beijing region: 2008.01 | |||
| Euro V | 2012.01a | ||||
| † production conformity a - proposed | |||||
At the Stage I/II, emissions were tested over the 13-mode ECE R-49 or the Chinese 9-mode test. At the Stage III/V, emissions are tested over the ESC, ETC, and ELR cycles.
Emission durability requirements are generally shorter than the equivalent European standards. At Stages III/IV, the requirements are:
- Category M2 and gasoline engines: 80,000 km / 5 years
- Category M3 ≤ 7.5 ton, N2 and N3 ≤ 16 ton: 100,000 km / 5 years
- Category M3 > 7.5 ton and N3 > 16 ton: 250,000 km / 6 years
Fuel Quality
Low sulfur diesel fuel (S ≤ 500 ppm) is available nationwide since 2004. In the Beijing region, the maximum sulfur level in diesel and gasoline fuels is 50 ppm effective 2008.01.