(File photo)

The national VI emission standards for motor vehicles will be issued at the end of 2016. The standards will be 30 percent stricter compared with the phrase of 2015.

"China is now making the standards of the sixth phrase, which is expected to be completed at the end of 2016. The standards will further improve the emission control requirements for PM and oxynitride. The overall goal is to improve 30 percent on the basis of the fifth phrase of standards," Yuan Xiaofei, an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said at the International Forum on Chinese Automotive Industry Development held in Tianjin on Sunday.

The automobile industry has made great contributions to China's national economic development. At present, the number of motor vehicle production enterprises and car ownership all rank the first in the world. The production and sales of motor vehicles have ranked the first in the world for six consecutive years.

However, the rapid growth of car ownership brings serious environmental problems, especially the tail gas pollution. The emission of PM and oxynitride are the key factors causing haze and ozone pollution. Therefore, stricter emission standards were made in the national V emission standards issued in 2013 compared with the fourth phrase: the emission standards of oxynitride improved by 25 percent to 28 percent, and stricter requirement for PM was adopted.

The State Council proposed to improve the quality of motor gasoline and diesel and made it clear that the diesel standard in the fifth phrase would be adopted all over the country since Jan. 1, 2017. At present, more than 3,700 types of motor vehicles have met the requirement of light duty motor vehicles. Almost 50 percent of motor vehicles have met the national V emission standards.

"The Ministry of Environmental Protection pays high attention to the establishment of the national VI emission standards. The draft standards are to be completed at the end of this year," Yuan Xiaofei said.

This article was edited and translated from 《国六排放标准明年底发布》, source: Beijing Times.