China will focus on the development of economy cars that are in conformity with national security, energy saving, exhaust regulations and private use and will raise their proportion in the total output of automobiles, according to a guide for immediate industrial development issued by the State Economic and Trade Commission.

According to the guide, by the end of the 10th five-year plan period, the gasoline engines will reach the Euro 2 emission standards in tail gas control and the intermediate and high-grade products will have to reach the Euro 3 standards. The environmentally friendly taxi cabs will also be one of the focuses of development.

The auto industry will develop the diesel engines for vans, single-fuel gas engines and mixed power systems at an appropriate rate. The departments concerned with try to help those that are competitive and have advantages and make them, through cooperation with foreign firms, attain serial production capacity and their products will reach the Euro 2 and 3 standards in exhaust emission.

They will also help those firms with a competitive edge to develop, either jointly with foreign firms or independently, series of economy cars on the basis of the existing products. The engine production lines will be transformed into highly efficient ones by using program-controlled equipment and processing centers.

(www.cenews.com.cn November 4, 2002)