The General Office of the State Council, or the central government, has issued a circular to demand a nationwide canceling of restrictions on low-emission, economical cars.

According to the circular, a proposal recently submitted by the State Development and Reform Commission and other governmental departments on encouraging the usage of environment-friendly and energy-saving vehicles of low emission has been approved by the State Council, and local governments and various departments should implement it strictly.

The move constitutes part of efforts to reduce oil consumption and air pollution. Small cars are also encouraged to be used as taxies and more investment will be made in low-emission, oil-saving cars, including research on engines, the circular said.

To date, small autos are not permitted to run in more than 80 cities in the country despite Primer Wen Jiabao's call last summer for doing away with restrictions on cars with low emission, low oil consumption and high efficiency.

In China's national capital, Beijing, cars that have below 1.0-liter emission are not permitted to travel in the Chang'an Boulevard, the longest and most bustling street.

Signals favoring low-emission cars are being read in the market. According to statistics, the first nine months of this year witnessed the number of cars below 1.6-litre emission standing at 1,240,900, accounting for 64.17 percent of the total, and the sale of cars below 1.0-litre emission rose by 93.69 percent year on year to 248,000.

Industrial statistics show that China imports 40 percent of its total oil consumption, one third of which is used in car engines. Owing to soaring world oil prices, China has seen its refined oil price rise five times in 2005.

The number of private cars is expected to reach 17 million by the end of this year from the 2000 figure of 6.25 million, more than double during the previous five-year period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Source: Xinhua