One million high-emission vehicles junked

China forced about 1 million vehicles with excessive emissions off the roads in the first ten months of the year, completing 85 percent of its annual target, though Beijing and Shandong province fell short of their targets, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said today.

All vehicles registered before 2005 were to be discarded by the end of the year to reduce vehicle exhaust and improve air quality. Owners, who must junk or otherwise recycle the vehicles, receive government compensation. In Beijing, for example, the maximum subsidy was 18,000 yuan ($2,822).

As of October, four provincial level regions — Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Yunnan, Tibet autonomous region and Tianjin — already had finished the process, and another six provinces, including Guangdong, were nearly complete, retiring 90 percent of the required vehicles, the ministry said.

However, some provinces have lagged behind, and will be unable to complete the annual task as scheduled, the ministry said. Shaanxi in northwest China only removed 33 percent of vehicles with excessive exhausts through October.