China regulates development of new automobiles (green machines)

[Dover]

Pooooor American car companies can't get a break....moved abroad for cheaper manufacturing only to be faced with even stiffer regulations? Looks like ethanol won't be acceptable to China either.

China regulates development of new automobiles
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-02 23:22


BEIJING - China has made a substantial move to advance the development of automobiles powered by new energies amidst concerns on energy conservation and environmental protection.

A new regulation regarding the qualifications of manufacturers for automobiles powered by new energies was promulgated Thursday by the country's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), after seven months of public discussion.

New-energy automobiles were defined by the regulation as hybrid cars -- battery electric vehicles (BEV), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV), hydrogen-fueled vehicles and vehicles powered by other new types of fuel.

Professor Zha Daojiong, director of the Center for International Energy Security at Renmin University of China in Beijing, told Xinhua the regulation came out against a background of increasing domestic and international energy demands.

The promulgation of the regulation coincided with the announcement of a sharp gasoline price rise by the NDRC. The prices of gasoline, diesel oil and aviation kerosene increased by 500 yuan per ton, a rise of almost 10 percent, to lessen the gap between soaring international crude prices and state-set domestic oil prices...>

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-11/02/content_6227629.htm