More than 6,000 vehicles in Shenzhen in China have been issued with coloured labels as China kicked of its scheme for cutting automotive emissions.

Reports from the Shenzhen Daily showed that a total of 5,396 vehicles were issued with green labels while 1,173 were given yellow ones, each denoting the exhaust emission levels.

Shenzhen is among the first regions to begin using the scheme, which will be used to try to speed up the imposition of stringent European emissions standards.

Green labels denote those gasoline vehicles meeting the Euro I standard and diesel vehicles meeting the Euro II standard - yellow indicates that the vehicle has failed its test.

Lu, deputy chief of the issuance centre, said that inspection posts were stationed across the city, and outlined the government's commitment to tackling automotive emissions.

"The purpose of issuing the labels is to strengthen our inspection of vehicles with yellow labels," he told Shenzhen Daily.

He went on to reveal that vehicles with yellow labels would be inspected every six months, while vehicles with green labels would be inspected annually.

Those with yellow labels will find the areas they can drive in and the length of time they can be on the road restricted.

By the end of this year it is hoped every driver will have been given a label, with the government warning of strict penalties for those attempting to forge the documents.

China's development of its emissions legislation echoes the European and North American leads, with Shenzhen imposing its first regulation governing auto exhaust emissions on June 1st.