The volume of traffic on China's roads has soared between 2005 and 2010, driving a new problem for policymakers with a resultant spike in vehicle emissions.

Cars in the country increased 150 per cent in the five-year period from 30.88 million to 77.21 million units, with growth at around ten per cent per year, according to a study from the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB).

Total vehicles numbers rose from 118 million to 190 million over the period, with cars accounting for the majority of the growth.

Two-fifths of the vehicles meet China's Grade III National Emissions Standards, with those meeting Grades I and II at around 20 per cent and 26 per cent.

With the rise in cars has come a new issue – vehicle emissions are now a much larger part of the air pollution mix.

Problems caused by the combination of soot and vehicle exhaust pollution, such as dust haze, acid rain and photochemical smog are now commonplace in some parts of the country.

Some 52 million tonnes of pollutants were emitted in China in 2010, including nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and particulate matter.

EPB spokesman Tao Detian explained, however, that China has made great strides to limit the effect of the soaring numbers of vehicles on the country's roads.

He stressed that while car ownership rose 150 per cent between 2005 and 2010, emissions increased by just 7.4 per cent.

Sources:

Car emission becomes major cause of air pollution (21/12/11)

Total number of automobiles on Chinese roads grew 150% from 2005 to 2010 (20/12/11)

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