China floats 'cash for clunkers' scheme

BEIJING - China is scheduled to restrict or prohibit heavy polluting vehicles by the end of June 2015 in major cities, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) on Thursday.

The vehicles to be cleaned off the road include "yellow label cars"-- gasoline cars that fall below National I emission standard and diesel vehicles below the National III emission standard -- and older vehicles, which all fail to meet the current national motor vehicle emission standards.

The regulation stipulates that use of such vehicles should be restricted and they should be banned entirely from core urban areas. All cities of and above prefecture level should meet the standard by the end of June 2015.

China regards taking old cars off the road as an effective way to curb air pollution, said an official with the MEP.

Over 1.3 million "yellow label cars" were registered at the end of 2013, 10 percent of all vehicles, but over half of the vehicle pollutants are attributed to them, he said.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has ordered the elimination of 6 million old vehicles nationwide this year, he added.

Authorities will put forward a "cash for clunkers" program to encourage car owners to replace their old cars with eco-friendly ones.

The regulation also asks for strengthened supervision of heavy polluting cars and the use of the market means such as raising the cost of using the vehicles to persuade owners to give them up.

Beijing should see no less than 391,000 jalopies off the roads by the end of 2014.