China to finalize State IV diesel standard in July

The Chinese government will finalize the country’s State IV diesel fuel standard, equivalent to the Euro IV emissions standard on July 1. Beijing has already implemented the standard, to be followed by Shanghai in October 2009. State-run facilities are scrambling to meet the standard, but the government is facing difficulties with private vehicles, as many have only so far been able to comply with Euro II requirements. China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) is upgrading two refineries, namely Shanghai Petrochemical and Gaoqiao Petrochemical, to enable them to produce State IV-compliant fuel. (May 15, 2009)