BEIJING, April 28 (Reuters) - China plans to clean up its air by raising vehicle emission standards over the next two years, the State Environmental Protection Administration said, just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

New rules ensuring cleaner exhaust systems for trucks, agricultural vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds would take effect on July 1, the administration said on its Web site, sepa.gov.cn.

China is the world's fastest-growing car market. Vehicle and factory emissions and construction dust choke many of its cities, including Beijing, where the government has promised to improve air quality before it hosts the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Tougher requirements for vans, minibuses and other vehicles would be implemented on July 1, 2007, the administration said.

The new standards follow other recent steps by China to improve air quality. Last October, petrol stations in Beijing were told to sell cleaner gasoline and diesel.

"If our environment is going to bear the burden of more vehicles, we have to impose stricter emissions standards on all kinds of vehicles," Luo Yi, deputy director of the administration's Department of Science, Technology and Standards, was quoted as saying at a Wednesday news conference.

"Though we have made much progress, China is still far behind many developed countries in terms of controlling vehicle emissions."

Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK342680.htm