Beijing’s “Yellow Label” Car Policy Aims to Reduce Vehicle Pollution
Beginning in March an increased amount of media coverage in local Beijing newspapers has examined a new car policy: “yellow label” vehicle restrictions. On April 1, all “yellow label” vehicles were strictly banned from driving inside of Beijing’s 5th ring road. Violators of the policy will face fines.
Beijing vehicles are now categorized as either “green” – those that do meet the Euro I standard – or “yellow.” These yellow label vehicles are cars that fail to meet the Euro I emission standard, which China adopted in 1992.
The new controls on yellow label vehicles are a continuation of the Beijing municipal government’s “Measures to Control the Atmospheric Pollution in Beijing for the 15th Stage,” which was adopted by the city after the Olympics in September 2008. Reducing the number of highly-polluting vehicles was named as one of the city’s top priorities.
About 350,000 yellow label vehicles existed in Beijing at the end of 2008. While these vehicles account for just 10% of total cars in Beijing, they are responsible for more than half the total emissions of all vehicles. According to officials from the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, a single yellow label vehicle generates emissions equal to that of 28 low-emission Euro IV-compliant vehicles. The original terms of Beijing’s air pollution plan called for banning yellow label vehicles from entering within the 5th Ring Road by January 1, 2009, with an extended ban to the 6th Ring Road on October 1, 2009.
The Beijing government also has introduced economic incentives to help phase out yellow label vehicles by the end of 2009. Owners willing to trade in their vehicles for more efficient ones will receive between 500 to 25,000 RMB (see chart below). Drivers or firms purchasing green label vehicles will receive a subsidy as well.
Subsidy details for yellow-label car trade-in program
Since March 25, 2009, officials assert that 10,241 yellow label vehicles have already been phased out. January through March 2009 was the “educational period” for yellow label car owners who wanted to drive within the 5th Ring Road. After April 8, 2009, drivers of yellow label cars who are caught inside the 5th Ring Road will be fined 100 RMB and asked to immediately leave the prohibited area.
Other cities have noticed and begun adopting similar policies; Hangzhou plans to ban yellow-label vehicles from entering the main city starting June 1, 2009 as well. Greenlaw will continue to monitor any further developments in Beijing and elsewhere.
We wonder how the yellow label policy is being implemented. Write a comment if you have any stories.
Additional Links:
- “Beijing Eliminates Over 10,000 Yellow-label Cars (Chinese),” Xinhua News
- “Polluting Cars to be Phased Out,” China Daily
- “Yellow-label Cars to be Fined 100 RMB for Violating Rules (Chinese),” Beijing News
- Beijing Municipal Government’s “Measures to Control the Atmospheric Pollution in Beijing for the 15th Stage (Chinese),” China Government Website
Comments
2 Responses to “Beijing’s “Yellow Label” Car Policy Aims to Reduce Vehicle Pollution”
Leave a Reply
Hi,
We have just added your latest post “Beijing’s “Yellow Label” Car Policy Aims to Reduce Vehicle Pollution : Greenlaw – Discussing China’s environmental laws, policies and the power of the public” to our Directory of Environment . You can check the inclusion of the post here . We are delighted to invite you to submit all your future posts to the directory for getting a huge base of visitors to your website and gaining a valuable backlink to your site.
Warm Regards
greenatmos.com Team
http://www.greenatmos.com
[...] For more info about Chinese restrictions in transport click here [...]