China on Monday said consumers will need to bear some of the costs of tighter fuel standards, opening the door to higher prices at fuel pumps as the nation balances growing public concern over the environment with worries about inflation.
China
on
Monday said consumers will need to bear some of the costs of tighter fuel
standards, opening the door to higher prices at fuel pumps as the nation
balances growing public concern over the environment with worries about
inflation.
The announcement comes after a number of episodes of severe air pollution in
recent months in
Beijing
and
several other places. The
Beijing
government also on Monday mapped out plans to combat air pollution including
limiting the number of motor vehicles in the city to six million by 2017. In
January this year, the official Xinhua news agency said
Beijing
had
around 5.18 million vehicles.
The National Development and Reform Commission,
China
's top
economic planning agency, said Monday that higher costs to improve nationwide
fuel quality will be borne by both the refining industry and its consumers. It
didn't elaborate.
"Currently, the situation of the atmospheric environment in
China
is
grim," the NDRC said in a statement on its website.
Tiny particulate matter in the air has "harmed the health of the
population and has had an impact on society and harmonious stability," it
said.
Chinese refiners have resisted costly upgrades to raise fuel standards due to
Beijing
's
strict control over fuel prices, which has made it difficult to pass on higher
costs to consumers. However, the Chinese government unveiled major reforms to
its fuel-pricing system this year, which has improved bottom lines and made it
easier for other overhauls.
China
,
which has lagged Western countries in fuel standards, plans to improve fuel
quality over time using a similar roadmap followed by the
U.S.
and
Europe
. For
example, one target is to limit the concentration of sulfur in gasoline to 50
parts per million from 150 parts per million before the end of this year. The
NDRC said
China
's two
largest refining companies pegged the cost of doing that at 290 yuan a metric
ton, or about 13 U.S. cents a gallon. It wasn't known how much of that cost
would be passed on to consumers. The average price of gasoline in
China
is
around $4.21 a gallon, according to consultancy ICIS C1 Energy.
The NDRC said that because of rapid growth in car ownership in
China
,
vehicle emissions now account for between 20% and 30% of the country's overall
emissions of PM 2.5-tiny particulate matter harmful to human health.
Meanwhile, the NDRC said it wouldn't raise fuel prices immediately but allow
for a gradual transition over the next few years, which will also be determined
by local governments. It also said it would temporarily subsidize grain farmers
and the forestry, fishery and transportation sectors to ease the impact on
consumers.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Παρ, 26 Ιουλίου 2024 - 16:04
Παρ, 26 Ιουλίου 2024 - 16:02
Τετ, 24 Ιουλίου 2024 - 15:10
Τετ, 24 Ιουλίου 2024 - 15:06
Τρι, 23 Ιουλίου 2024 - 16:51