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[资源] 推荐外文：CHINA'S CAR FUEL POLICY IN DISARRAY

China's
plans to impose tough new auto emissions standards this year have been thrown into confusion after the main economic planning agency in Beijing said the rules should be delayed because of the poor quality of available fuel.

The government had planned to introduce nationally on July 1 a standard for cars known as Euro III, which reduces carbon monoxide and other emissions.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is partly responsible for developing such standards, is pushing for the rules to be put on hold for up to two years because it says the lack of compatible fuel could damage new engines.

However, the government's main environmental agency, which also polices emissions standards, is insisting the rules remain in place. “They [the two government agencies] will have to come to some sort of compromise because they are saying very different things,” said one China-based industry executive.

The inter-government dispute and the lack of available fuel underline the difficulties Beijing is facing in trying to implement some of its ambitious environmental and energy-use targets.

Air pollution has become one of the most important issues facing the government and although coal-fired power stations are the main culprit, auto emissions are becoming an increasing problem in big cities owing to the explosion in car ownership. China already has tougher fuel-economy standards than the US.

In order to meet its growing oil needs, China has been buying large quantities of cheaper crude with a higher content of sulphur, a significant contributor to air pollution. Engineers say high-sulphur fuel can also damage catalytic converters, which help reduce cars' emissions.

Li Wanli, a senior official at the NDRC's industrial policy department, said that the main oil companies, Sinopec and PetroChina, would not be able to supply most of the eastern and central regions of the country with low-sulphur Euro III-compatible fuel until late 2009.

“When the fuel is not ready, it can create many potential problems,” he said. “Customers may complain about the high price of Euro III cars if they cannot get the matching fuel supply.”

Mr Li said the rules should be introduced in different areas of the country only when higher quality fuel was available.

Beijing and Guangzhou already have such a supply and introduced the Euro III standard last year. But extending the supply would take billions of dollars of investment in China's refining capacity, say analysts.

The State Environmental Protection Agency refused to comment on the issue but government officials said it was still sticking to the July 1 deadline for the new emissions policy.

Multinational carmakers in China said they were ready to introduce the new engines from next month. Kenneth Hsu, an executive at Ford, said the company had been producing Euro III-compliant cars in China since last year, although he added: “The more complicated and modern the engine, the more sensitive it is to the quality of fuel.”

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