The new standards were jointly issued by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision and Quarantine.

Since 1999, the SEPA issued a set of standards for automobile emissions and the former State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision also issued its own.

The two sets of standards, though overlapping in many fields, led to confusion in implementation among both the law-enforcement department and car manufacturers, said Chen Shangqin, a senior official with the SEPA.

According to the new standards, cars are required to meet the European II emission standard by the year 2004.

A new rule on the approval of local car emission standards has also been released by the SEPA, demanding that the local governments report to the State Council if they plan to launch standards that are more rigid than the national standards.

Car emissions have become one of the major sources of air pollution in Chinese cities, especially metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

(Xinhua 04/19/2001)