Transportation and the Environment in China by

At first glance, concerns regarding motor vehicle pollution in China seem misplaced. With a population more than four times as large as the United States (1.22 billion versus 268 million) the number of cars, trucks, and buses in China is a mere fraction of that in the United States (less than fourteen million in China versus 210 million in the United States). On a per capita basis, China has one of the lowest vehicle populations in the world, as illustrated in Table 1. According to Table 1, it is clear that among these countries only India has a lower vehicle ownership density than China. However, to stop at this superficial overview would be very misleading. In recent years, the vehicle population in China has been increasing sharply, with much of this growth taking place in cities. Nationally, the annual growth of vehicles has averaged approximately fourteen percent per year. One result of this rapid growth has been the emergence of serious air pollution problems, especially in cities. Furthermore, the growth in vehicles in China is expected to continue and perhaps even accelerate in coming decades, increasing concerns regarding further environmental degradation. Chinese policymakers have begun to respond to the growing problem of air pollution. For example the government has initiated a public reporting system whereby a growing number of Chinese cities are now routinely reporting their current air quality, as illustrated by the most recent data summarized in Table 2 (following page). As Table 2 shows, several cities have an air pollution index above 400 for total suspended particulates (TSP), which means these cities measured TSP levels above 875 mg/m (micrograms per cubic meter). Table B illustrates that most Chinese cities already have serious air pollution problems particularly with TSP and nitrogen oxides (NO x ). As this information has become publicly available, citizen pressure has been building to push the government to take action to lower the pollution levels. Strategies are therefore being developed and implemented at both the national and local levels to counteract this problem. Most notably, at the national level, China has completed an environmental technical assistance project, sponsored by a World Bank loan, to develop an Action Plan with the objective of assuring that by 2010 the air quality levels in China’s major cities meet the second class of national standards. One trend which could help China attain these national air quality standards has been actions by large cities, particularly Beijing, to develop local pollution control strategies. The purpose of this article is to review and analyze the proposed national Action Plan and recent municipal government actions to alleviate pollution problems in China. To place the Action Plan and local actions in context, I will first outline current information on vehicle use, air quality, and infrastructure investment.