At a time when Chinese authorities are enforcing strict measures to control motor pollution, domestic refineries have started producing unleaded gasoline. Government authorities say that the shift in the production to unleaded petrol will not require extra imports, as several refineries in China have been gearing up to produce unleaded gasoline.
The Guangdong refinery in southeastern China has cut down the production of leaded petrol in the past few months and now it is only producing unleaded gasoline. After Beijing banned leaded petrol to cut pollution, three major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan have also decided to impose restriction on the use of leaded petrol.
Under the new regulations, those petrol stations which do not meet the standards laid down by the government, will be fined up to US $1,200. However, some people still use leaded petrol and get the fuel from outside the city. It is expected that this trend would stop once all the refineries in China stop producing leaded petrol and gasoline.
According to official sources, China has planned to introduce unleaded petrol in all major cities by end of the century. The step in this direction is evident from the fact that in 1996, when about 51.6 per cent of the gasoline produced by the state refinery China Petrochemical Corporation was unleaded.
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