Beijing: Heavy-Duty: Emissions

Overview

Beijing has historically adopted HDV emissions standards early, as China allows regions and cities to implement vehicle emission standards before the rest of the country. The China VI standard was officially put into place in Beijing in 2019, making Beijing’s emission standards one of the most stringent in the world.

Standard type
Conventional pollutant emission limits

Regulating Body
Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (BEPB)

Current Standard

China VI-b

Applicability

Heavy-duty vehicles with gross vehicle weight over 3,500 kg, equipped with one of the following engine types: compression ignition, positive ignition natural gas, or liquified petroleum gas.

Categories

China Heavy-duty vehicles Emissions standards

History

Regions and cities in China are permitted to implement slated national vehicle emission standards in their own regions in advance of the nationwide implementation dates. In order to do this, the city and/or region must meet the following two conditions. First, the standard must be identical to the standard already adopted and issued (but not yet implemented) by the national government. Second, China’s State Council, the highest executive body of the State, must grant approval. Beginning in 1999, Beijing has consistently adopted HDV emission standards ahead of the national government timeline. Beijing implemented its first HDV emission standard for diesel and gasoline engines in 2000, while the national (China I) standards came into effect in 2001 (for comparison, see the China: Heavy-duty: Emissions page). Beijing also proposed its own version of emission standards, titled “Jing VI” for limiting HDV emissions, but in the end, Jing VI was instead replaced by China VI for the sake of standard nationwide conformity. Beijing thereafter decided to apply China VI ahead of other regions’ implementation by 2 years, officially adopting the China VI standard on 1 Jul 2019. The remaining regions’ standards will take effect on 1 Jul 2021.

Due to the technical difficulties of China VI implementation, China VI was split into two sub-stages for smoother development: China VI-a and China VI-b. While most regions in China will follow the national pace when transitioning from China VI-a to China VI-b, Beijing, along with 13 provinces and municipalities (i.e. Guangdong, Tianjin, and Shanghai, among others) with more aggressive targets, skipped the China VI-a phase altogether and transitioned directly to China VI-B implementation. Beijing’s actions show their approach to be much more ambitious and aggressive in curbing HDV emissions than most other regions throughout China.

The following table summarizes the progression of HDV emission standards in Beijing:

**Implementation of heavy-duty emission standards in Beijing**
Stage	Date of implementation
China I	1 Jan 1999
China II	1 Jan 2003
China III	31 Dec 2005
China IV	1 Jul 2008
China V/ Beijing V	1 Feb 2013 for new buses and city cleaning vehicles 1 Jun 2015 for new HDV sales
China VI-b	1 Jul 2019 for new natural gas vehicles, buses, and city cleaning vehicles 1 Jan 2020 for new HDV sales

Technical Standards of China VI

Compared to China V, China VI improves standards on NO_X emissions by 77% and PM emissions by 67%. China VI also is the first in the China series to introduce Particle Number (PN) and ammonia (NH₃) as testing pollutants. China VI shares the same standards on several pollutants with their European counterparts (Euro VI), while being even more aggressive on some testing types and specifications, making China VI one of the most stringent HDV emission standards in the world.

China VI applies to heavy-duty compression ignition engines (CI) and positive ignition engines (PI) using natural gas (NG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). For type approval, heavy-duty engines are required to pass the following tests:

Engine bench tests on World Harmonized Stationary Cycle (WHSC), World Harmonized Transient Cycle (WHTC) and World Harmonized Not-To-Exceed (WNTE) test (off-cycle emission test) for gaseous pollutants, PM, and PN
OBD tests
NO_x control tests
Crankcase ventilation tests
Durability tests
PEMS test

For the PEMS test, the test engine is installed on vehicles to operate on-road, and emissions are measured using a portable emission measurement system (PEMS). Emission limits under the PEMS test are provided in the next section; however, the PEMS test is used to verify that the test engine can meet WNTE emission limits when installed on a real vehicle, different from the concept of in-use compliance testing.

Limit Values

**China VI emission limits for heavy-duty engines**
Test Cycle		Engine type	CO	THC	NMHC	CH₄	NO_x	PM	NH₃	PN¹
Test Cycle		Engine type	mg/kWh						ppm	#/kWh
Stationary and transient cycles	WHSC	CI	1500	130	–	–	400	10	10	8.0×10¹¹
	WHTC	CI	4000	160	–	–	460	10	10	6.0×10¹¹
	WHTC	PI	4000	–	160	500	460	10	10	6.0×10¹¹
Off-cycle	WNTE	–	2000	220	–	–	600	16	–	–
Full vehicle cycle	PEMS	CI	6000	–	–	–	690	–	–	1.2×10¹²
		PI	6000	240(LPG) 750(NG)	–	–	690	–	–	–
		Dual fuels	6000	1.5×WHTC value	–	–	690	–	–	1.2×10¹²
(1) Available from China VI-b

Durability

China VI adopts the Euro VI durability requirements for both engines and vehicles. In general, the durability requirements improve by increasing gross vehicle weight.

**China VI durability requirements**
Vehicle category	Durability requirement¹
Vehicle category	VKT²	Time
M1, N1, M2	200,000 km	5 years
N2	200,000 km	5 years
N3 ≤ 18,000 kg	300,000 km	6 years
M3-I, M3-II, M3-B
M3-B ≤ 7,500 kg
N3 > 18,000 kg	700,000 km	7 years
M3-III
M3-B > 7,500 kg
(1) According to whichever to be reached earlier
(2) Vehicle kilometer traveled

Deterioration Factor

The deterioration factors shall be determined by linear regression methods during durability testing. Engine manufacturers are also able to use the data below as an alternative.