Beijing will conduct its first-ever auction on Sunday of cars owned by governmental departments that don't meet environmental standards.

Similar auctions will be held on December 28 and January 11 at the Beijing Old Vehicle Fair. More than 400 cars, including home-made and imported ones, are to be sold off at the three events, according to Wang Meng, a fair official.

The city is vowing to sell more than 5,000 such emission-troubled cars in the next three years to meet Euro I levels.

The effort is needed to improve the capital city's air quality and reduce petrol use. In July, the Beijing Bureau of Environmental Protection issued an order forbidding cars not meeting the Euro I standards to operate on Chang'an Avenue and streets within the Second Ring Road from 8 am to 7 pm beginning last month.

Euro I standards stipulate that hydrocarbon discharges should not exceed 1.13 grams per kilometre for a petrol-powered vehicle. Carbon monoxide emissions should not exceed 3.16 grams per kilometre under Euro I standards.

As result, many such cars - mainly those licensed before 2005 - privately owned or government-owned, began finding buyers in regions outside Beijing, where Euro I standards are not so strictly enforced, said sources with the Beijing Old Vehicle Fair.

The first batch of more than 70 vehicles auctioned on Sunday include Santana and Audi, jeeps and trucks.

"The cars are in good condition since government-used cars always receive professional repairs and service," Wang said.

With auction headquarters in Beijing, old vehicle fairs in 14 provinces and municipalities like Jiangxi, Jilin, Hebei and Tianjin are conducting auctions at the same time on the 70 vehicles.

An online auction is also being conducted at www.2sc.com.cn where the vehicles' pictures and conditions can be confirmed by the fair's professionals.

"I plan to buy a Santana car from the auctioned ones because the price is low and the vehicle condition is really attractive," said Xiao Zhanqing, a 40-year-old man in Xushui County of North China's Hebei Province.

For example, the base price of a Santana car produced in 1993 is 18,000 yuan (US$2,170) in the auction while the ordinary price for such a car is over 30,000 yuan (US$3,620).

Sources with the Beijing Bureau of Statistics said the number of old cars bought by residents living in regions outside Beijing in September and October are 20.5 and 17.2 times that of the same periods last year, due to the impact of Beijing's environmental policies.

Beijing authorities hope to improve the environment for the 2008 Summer Olympics and the city is looking at the introduction of Euro III standards by 2005.

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