BEIJING : According to the General Administration for Market Regulation, the new standards came into effect today and introduce stricter limits on energy consumption across vehicle categories. State media Xinhua News Agency reported that the regulations will cut overall fuel consumption limits for conventional and hybrid passenger cars by around 18 per cent.

Under the revised norms, a passenger car with an automatic transmission weighing about 1.5 tonnes will now be capped at fuel consumption of 7.74 litres per 100 kilometres. The rules also set an ambitious target for average corporate fuel consumption for passenger cars at 3.3 litres per 100 kilometres by 2030, a reduction of nearly 48 per cent, positioning China at a world-leading level in vehicle efficiency.

In a notable shift, the energy consumption of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will now be included in the calculation of average fuel consumption for corporate vehicle fleets, encouraging manufacturers to improve efficiency across all powertrain technologies.

For light commercial vehicles, the standards mandate an overall 10 per cent reduction in fuel consumption limits. Under the new framework, a gasoline-powered truck weighing around two tonnes must not exceed 9.13 litres per 100 kilometres. For the first time, the regulations also introduce average fuel consumption targets for light commercial vehicle manufacturers, setting a benchmark of 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres for gasoline-powered trucks by 2030, a target considered advanced by global standards.