Stricter rules on exhaust emissions will apply to all new cars sold in Shenzhen from March next year in a bid to curb the city's worsening air pollution.

The city will become the third on the mainland, after Beijing and Guangzhou, to apply the Euro III standard from March 1 with registration barred to any new vehicles which fail to meet it.

Euro III, the auto emission standard originally introduced by the EU in 1999, limits major emission pollutants, mainly Nitrogen Oxide and particulate matter, to about half of those under its previous version Euro II.

The rule does not apply to vehicles already registered. Euro III vehicles need special fuel, which costs slightly more than ordinary gas, according to Xie Zhaowei, vice director of the city's exhaust testing center. The move is part of "Action Blue Sky" launched last winter.

The city government consulted with Sinopec and PetroChina as early as May on petrol supplies to meet the new standard. The original plan set January 1 as the deadline but had to be postponed, as Shenzhen is still waiting for approval from the State Development and Reform Commission for a gas price rise. The city also needs time to ensure the supply of Euro III gas.

There will be Euro III gas for 93 and 97 RON grades. In Guangzhou, which adopted Euro III in September, Euro III petrol costs an additional 0.15 yuan (US$0.019) more than its non-Euro III alternatives.

Meanwhile, 75 percent of Shenzhen's 8,900 buses have reached the Euro III standard, with the support of 89 million yuan in government subsidies to bus companies.

"The local government offers 40,000 yuan for each newly purchased bus and 80,000 yuan for each existing bus to upgrade its engine to encourage adoption of the new standard," said Gao Bo, official with the Shenzhen Bus Group.

The city is planning to spend a total of 310 million yuan to upgrade all buses between 2003 and 2008 to apply the Euro III standard.

The environmental protection bureau is also pushing a trial of hybrid fuel vehicles to be used in government agencies.

Shanghai will adopt the Euro III standard in July next year. China began to tackle car emissions back in 1980s. The Euro I standard was first adopted in 1999 and Euro II in 2002.

(Shenzhen Daily December 8, 2006)