A new plan would require automakers in China to improve fuel economy by an additional 18 percent by 2015.
一项新的方案要求中国的汽车制造商们在2015年前提高18％的节油率
 
Published: May 27, 2009出版：2009年5月27日

HONG KONG — Worried about heavy reliance on imported oil, Chinese officials have drafted automotive fuel economy standards that are even more stringent than those outlined by President Obama last week, Chinese experts with a detailed knowledge of the plans said on Wednesday.
香港—熟悉内情的中国专家周三说，由于担心过于依赖进口石油，中国官方草订了比美国总统奥巴马上周的纲要更为严格的汽车节能标准。

The new plan would require automakers in China to improve fuel economy by an additional 18 percent by 2015, said An Feng, a leading architect of China’s existing fuel economy regulations who is now the president of the Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation, a nonprofit group in Beijing.
该项新方案要求中国的汽车制造商们在2015年前提高18％的节油率，安峰（音）说，他是现行节能法规的主要制订者，现为北京的非政府组织能源与交通改革中心的主席。

The plan is going through the interagency approval process, with comments sought from automakers, and is scheduled for release early next year, he said.
他说，该项方案正在各部门审批中，将参考各汽车制造商的意见，计划于明年初出台。

The Chinese government tends to make few changes in automotive regulations once the interagency review process has started.
一旦跨部门的审议启动，中国政府倾向于对汽车业的法规做一些修改。
  
The average fuel economy of family vehicles in China is already higher than in the United States, mainly because cars in China tend to be considerably smaller than those in the United States — and are getting even smaller because of recent tax changes.
中国家用汽车的平均节能标准已经比美国的要高，主要是因为中国的轿车比美国的要小得多——而且因为最近的税率调整还将变得更小。

Cars with small fuel-sipping engines are now subject to a 1 percent sales tax, while sports cars and sport utility vehicles with the largest engines are subject to a 40 percent sales tax. Stricter fuel economy standards have won support from four interest groups within the Chinese government, said a Chinese government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue.
低油耗发动机的轿车只需征收1％的消费税，而最大马力发动机的跑车和运动休闲车将被课以40％的消费税。更严格的节能标准赢得了四个相关政府部门的支持，由于未经授权发表评论而未具名的一位政府官员说道。

Many in the government see a strategic and geopolitical need to reduce China’s reliance on oil imports, the official said. China was self-sufficient in oil until 1995, but soaring demand means that China now imports nearly three-fifths of its oil, much of it from potentially unstable countries along sea lanes controlled by the United States Navy.
这名官员说，政府中许多人认识到减少中国对进口石油依赖的战略上和地缘政治上的需要。直到1995年，中国的石油还能自给，但飙升的需求造成中国现今石油用量的五份之三依靠进口，很大一部分来自于美国海军控制的航路沿途的潜在不稳定国家。

Others in the government are concerned about limiting toxic air pollution and see reductions in the total combustion of gasoline as one way to achieve this. Still other officials are worried about the potential for international efforts to limit China’s emissions of global warming gases, or view greater fuel economy as a way to increase the competitiveness of Chinese car exports.
政府中的另一些人则关注限制空气污染并且将减少汽油的燃烧视为达成此目标的一种方法。还有另一些官员担心潜在的国际干预限制中国的全球温室气体排放，或者将更高的节能标准视为提高中国汽车出口竞争力的一种方法。

“Different stakeholders have different views,” the official said.
“仁者见仁，智者见智”这位官员说道。

China uses a different system from the United States to regulate fuel economy. China sets minimum standards for each of 16 weight categories and tests only urban fuel economy, not highway driving.
中国采用与美国不同的体系来管理节能标准。中国为16类载重量设定了最低标准，只测试市区的能耗，没有对高速公路的行驶进行测试。
    
Adjusting for these differences is difficult and controversial. Mr. An estimated that the average new car, minivan or sport utility vehicle in China already gets the equivalent of 35.8 miles a gallon this year based on the American measurement system of corporate averages and will be required to get 42.2 miles a gallon in 2015.
要达到目标并非易事。安先生估计中国的普通新车、小型车或运动休闲车，若按美国的公司平均油耗测量方法，今年已经达到相当于35.8英里每加仑的标准，而到2015年则要求达到42.2英里每加仑。

By comparison, President Obama announced last week that each automaker will be required to reach a corporate average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.
相比之下，奥巴马总统上周宣布要求所有汽车制造商到2016年达到35.5英里每加仑的公司平均能耗标准。

The details of China’s new fuel economy standards may favor domestic automakers at the expense of multinationals, several auto industry officials said. That is because the new rules call for the steepest increases in fuel economy — as much as 26 percent — for midsize and compact cars, market segments where multinationals are strong. Subcompacts, a market where domestic automakers are stronger, will be required to increase their gas mileage by as little as 9 percent compared with the existing standards, which took effect on Jan. 1.
有几位汽车业人士说，中国新节能标准的细则将有利于国内汽车制造商而对跨国公司不利。这是因为新法规要求大幅增加中小型汽车的节能性，达到26％之多，而这正是跨国公司占优势的市场。而国内厂商占优势的微型汽车，与1月1日实施的现行标准相比则只被要求增加9％的节能率。

Large cars, minivans and sport utility vehicles will face percentage increases between those extremes. The Chinese government had already cracked down on these vehicles by setting very high gas mileage benchmarks for them as part of the existing rules.
大车、小型货车和运动休闲车节能率的提高则介于这两者之间。中国政府已经通过在现行的法规中设置很高的节能标准限制了这些汽车。

When told late Wednesday of China’s gas mileage plans, Michael Dunne, the managing director for China at J. D. Power & Associates, the consulting firm, said that Japanese, Korean and German automakers had models of very small cars that they might start building in China if they have trouble meeting the new standards for larger models.
当周三晚时被告知中国的这一节能方案，知名咨询公司J.D. 动力协会的中国常务董事Michael Dunne说日本、韩国和德国都有很小的车型，可以在中国投产，如果他们的大车型在达到中国的新标准上有麻烦的话。

“The short-term impact is it would favor the Chinese, no doubt about it,” he said. “Global automakers care so deeply about this market that they’ll do whatever it takes, and adjust.”
“短期的冲击是它对中国人有利，这一点毫无疑问，”他说：“全球汽车制造商对这一市场念念不忘，他们为之竭尽所能，不惜做出调整。”
   
Automakers were cautious in their responses to the Chinese initiative.
对于中国的这一创举，汽车制造商们小心翼翼地加以应对。

“Ford China is pleased to be part of the industry consultation process on fuel efficiency,” said Whitney Small, a Ford spokeswoman. “Given our role in the process, it would not be appropriate for us to comment prematurely on an ongoing discussion.”
“福特中国很高兴参与到燃油效能的行业咨询进程，”一名福特的女发言人Whitney Small说道：“鉴于我们在这一进程中所扮演的角色，我们不宜过早对地尚在讨论中的内容做出评论。”

Several auto industry officials said that while a substantial increase in fuel economy standards is inevitable, two other issues have not yet been resolved.
几名业内人士说在节能标准的实质性提高不可避免的同时，还有其它两个问题没有解决。

One issue is how China treats imports. The current fuel-economy standards ban the production of any vehicle in China that does not meet the minimum requirement for its vehicle weight range. But imports are exempt, so practically all of the sport cars and large sport utility vehicles sold in China are imported.
一个问题是中国如何对待进口。现行的节能标准禁止在中国生产任何达不到相应载重量最低节能标准的汽车。但对进口车却网开一面，所以实际上在中国销售的所有跑车和大型运动休闲车都是进口的。

One possibility is to tax imported or domestically produced vehicles that fall short of the standard instead of banning them. The United States does this. But new taxes are bureaucratically complex to impose in China. Imports made up only 1.9 percent of China’s car market in the first four months of this year because of heavy import taxes.
一个可能是对低于标准的进口或国产车加税，而不是禁止。美国就是这么做的。但新的税率在中国官僚体系中滞碍难行。因为繁重的进口税率，在今年的头四个月，进口只占了中国汽车市场的1.9％。

The other unresolved issue is whether China will impose corporate average fuel economy standards in addition to minimum standards for each vehicle weight range, auto industry officials said. This would make it harder for companies to specialize in larger vehicles that may consume more fuel but may also be more profitable.
另一个未解决的问题是中国是否会在载重量最低标准之外推行公司平均节能标准，汽车业内人士说。这将使得企业更难专攻大型汽车，它们消耗更多燃油但利润也更高。