China scraps high-pollution vehicles in air cleanup

BEIJING - The Chinese government announced on Monday that the country will pull 6 million highly polluting vehicles off the roads and scrap them before the end of 2014 in a move to reduce air pollution.

The rule applies to vehicles that do not meet exhaust emissions standards. Of the vehicles to be scrapped this year, 20 percent are in the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well as Hebei Province -- all northern regions frequently troubled by smog in recent years.

More vehicles will be scrapped next year, including up to 5 million in the nation's economically developed regions such as the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions, according to an action plan published by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

"Strengthening control on vehicle emissions will be a major agenda item for the country's energy savings, emissions reductions, and low-carbon development during the next two years," said the action plan.

A report from environmental authorities showed that 31.1 percent of air pollution in Beijing, the Chinese capital, comes from vehicle exhaust.

In addition to eliminating polluting vehicles, experts are calling for the development of types of fuel that are less polluting.

According to the action plan, accelerating the elimination of highly polluting vehicles will help China hit several of its green targets for the next two years -- including annual reductions of 3.9 percent in energy consumption per unit of economic output, 2 percent in emissions of sulfur dioxide and 5 percent in emissions of nitrogen oxides.

To achieve these goals, the government will also push forward other work such as slashing outdated production capacities, reducing coal consumption, and introducing green technologies that are conducive to emissions control and energy savings, according to the plan.

Furthermore, reports will be published monthly on how regions have carried out their work in energy savings, according to Xu Shaoshi, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body.