Shanghai and Beijing to impose further restrictions on polluting vehicles

Shanghai and Beijing authorities said they are set to make it more difficult for vehicles to gain entry into their cities by placing even tougher restrictions on exhaust emissions. Higher-emission “yellow”-labelled vehicles will travel on their own roads into the city and will be banned from driving within the fifth ring-road from June. Drivers who break the rule will be fined RMB200 (US$29.27) and have two points placed on their driving license. Further, city restrictions are expected to be brought into force in the years to come, which could include measures that favor alternative fuelled vehicles, the development of which has become increasingly popular with the Chinese government. The Chinese government also has placed additional limitations on a package of measures designed to stimulate vehicle replacement in the country. However, the government will expand a vehicle replacement scheme previously focused only on rural communities to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and several provinces on China’s coast, at the same time increasing the pool of subsidies to RMB6 billion (US$879.9 million). (May 27, 2009)