China: Light-duty: Emissions

Overview

 * Standard type: Conventional pollutant emission limits
 * Regulating body:
 * Nationwide: Ministry of Environmental Protection
 * Regional and Local: Environmental Protection Bureaus
 * Current standard:
 * Nationwide: China IV (similar to Euro 4), GB 18352.3-2005
 * Regional and Local: same as nationwide except Beijing, which has its own "Beijing 5" standard similar to Euro 5
 * Future standards:
 * Nationwide: China 5 (similar to Euro 5b), nationwide implementation 1 Jan 2018
 * Regional and Local: same as nationwide
 * Applicability: All vehicles in categories M1, M2, and N1 with a reference mass not exceeding 3500kg. Categories are based on European precedent with some minor differences (see below).

Nationwide Standards
Although China's vehicle emission control program history dates to the early 1980s, the modern nationwide control program began in the late 1990s. Following the successful elimination of leaded gasoline, China began implementing progressively stringent tailpipe emission standards for light-duty vehicles following the European precedent. China's emissions standards, which are nearly identical to Europe's in terms of limit values, test cycles, and other parameters, are known as China I (equivalent to Euro 1), China II (equivalent to Euro 2), etc. The formal English title of Chinese light-duty standards are written with Roman numerals for China I-IV, but China 5 is written with an Arabic "5."

Vehicle emission standards are issued jointly by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), though MEP is in charge of developing, drafting, and approving the standards.

China's current nationwide light-duty vehicle emission standard is China IV (Euro 4) for gasoline vehicles. For diesel vehicles, only China IV vehicles have been eligible for type approval since July 1, 2010, but China III vehicles may still be sold and registered until July 1, 2013. In September 2013, MEP issued the final version of the China 5 standard for gasoline and diesel vehicles. The China 5 standard, with an implementation date of 1 Jan 2018 for all sales and registrations, is nearly equivalent to the Euro 5b standard.

The following table presents the nationwide implementation dates of light-duty vehicle emission standards in China:

Timeline for nationwide implementation of light-duty emission standards

Regional Standards
Once a nationwide standard has been issued, cities and regions in China may implement the standard in advance of the nationwide implementation dates, conditional on receiving approval from the State Council. Beijing has historically been China's leader in aggressively implementing new standards, followed by Shanghai, Guangzhou, and some other cities.

In early 2013, because the China 5 national standard was not yet released, Beijing was granted special approval to adopt a custom "Beijing 5" standard.

Tailpipe standard implementation dates for some key cities in China are summarized as follows:

Standard implementation dates for key Chinese cities

Vehicle Classification
Light-duty vehicle categories are based on the EU classification with some deviation:


 * Type 1 vehicles: M1 vehicles for no more than 6 passengers including driver, and GVWR &le; 2.5 tons.
 * Type 2 vehicles: Other light-duty vehicles (including N1 light commercial vehicles) further divided into three classes based on the reference mass.

Limit Values
Emission limits for China III, IV, and 5 are shown below. (Note: the official English titles of China III and IV use Roman numerals, while the official English title of China 5 uses an Arabic numeral.)

Emission limits for China III, IV, and 5

Additional Notes and Requirements

 * Chinese test cycles are based on the European test cycles.
 * New gasoline vehicles must also meet an evaporative emission limit of 2 g/test (SHED).
 * Durability requirements are 80,000 km for China III, 100,000 km for China IV, and 160,000 km for China 5.

Regulatory Documents

 * China I: GB 18352.1-2001


 * China II: GB18352.2-2001


 * China III/IV: GB 18352.3-2005 (China IV for light-duty diesel extended by two years)


 * China 5: 18352.5-2013


 * Idling emissions: GB 18285-2005


 * Exhaust smoke: GB 3847-2005 (diesel only)


 * Beijing 5: DB11/946—2013