On April 20, 2026, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China (MEE) issued notice to call for comment for the draft of a national mandatory standard named Emission standard of air pollutants for automotive industry (hereinafter referred to “the Draft”). The call-for-comment period will end on May 18, 2026.

In this Draft, automotive industry refers to sectors of various products, components, and accessories for automotives, encompassing enterprises engaged in manufacturing major automotive parts such as engines, chassis, and bodies, as well as assembling them into motor vehicles, along with sectors manufacturing various automotive components and accessories (automotive manufacturing sectors stipulated in national standard GB/T 4754–2017 Industrial classification for national economic activities, category C36). It also applies to the manufacturing of powder metallurgy components, polyvinyl chloride components, and fiber-reinforced plastic components within the automotive industry.

The Draft will apply to the management of atmospheric pollutant emissions from existing automotive industrial enterprises or production facilities, as well as to environmental impact assessments for automotive industry construction projects, design of environmental protection facilities, acceptance of completed environmental protection facilities, issuance of discharge permits, and subsequent management of atmospheric pollutant emissions after project commissioning. In a word, once implemented, it will become the mandatory standard for government at all levels to conduct the mandatory environmental assessment before a automotive factory will be built, and failing of the assessment will lead to the abortion of the factory construction.

Despite the importance of the environmental assessment for the automotive factories, and the fast growth of China’s automotive manufacturing sectors, as the country has ranked first in the world in automobile production in the past five years according to official data issued by MEE, there has not been a sector-specific emission standards of air pollutant for the whole automotive industry before the Draft, and the currently effective national standards in this fields are two generic ones, namely GB 25466.1-2025 Emission standard of air pollutants for lead and zinc industry and GB 46790-2025 Emission standard of air pollutants for refractory industry (both comes into force on January 1, 2026). In addition, some issues appear in the environment assessment for the industry, mainly:

-   Lack of a specific standard for the vast types of automotive products with different raw materials and production processes.

-   The composition of VOCs is complex, yet current standards do not specify corresponding control requirements for different manufacturing processes. 

-   Current standards lack monitoring items for characteristic pollutants in the automotive industry, such as oil mist. 

-   In recent years, pollutant emission concentrations in the industry have been far below existing national emission standards, meaning that current standards fail to reflect the industry's current pollution prevention and control technology level, thereby hindering technological advancement. 

-   There is a lack of control requirements for fugitive emissions of particulates.

The formulation of the Draft not only intends to solve the aforementioned issues, but is also expected to standardize atmospheric pollutant emissions in the manufacturing of automotive products, enhance environmental management standards, and promote the healthy development of the automotive industry. It is also a supportive measure to fulfill the tasks assigned in the national working plans such as Action Plan for Upgrading Equipment and Promoting Consumer Goods Trade-in through Standardization (issued in March of 2024 by MEE and 6 other national ministries).

The 8-chapter Draft mainly covers following contents: 

-   Requirements for organized emission control 

-   Requirements for fugitive emission control 

-   Pollution monitoring requirements at enterprise boundaries 

-   Pollutant monitoring requirements 

-   Implementation and supervision

It is important for relevant foreign stakeholders to monitor the future status of this Draft, as it will directly affect newly built factories once it enters into force. Another critical point that relevant stakeholders need to be aware of is that according to the general principle of China’s air pollutant management system for factory construction across all sectors, it is allowed for provincial governments to establish local standards for items not covered by this standard for the automotive industry, and more importantly, to set requirements that are stricter than those specified in the existing emission control standards for items already regulated. Furthermore, based on local ecological and environmental protection needs as well as economic and technological conditions, provincial governments may approve the early implementation of this standard following its publication.