China to streamline vehicle safety inspections

BEIJING -- New cars will be exempted from safety inspections for six years after they are registered for use, according to a new guideline unveiled on Friday to streamline vehicle safety procedures.

The same exemption will apply to small passenger vehicles, said the rule which will be put into practice on a trial basis in September.

Previously, private cars had to pass a vehicle safety test every two years, which resulted in long lines of vehicle owners queueing at inspection stations.

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Under the new policy jointly issued by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the national quality watchdog, vehicles can be inspected either in the location in which they are registered or the place they are used.

The guideline is aimed at addressing the imbalance between the growth of vehicles and the shortage of inspection stations. Official statistics show car ownership has seen a sharp increase in China, soaring from 24.21 million in 2003 to 137 million in 2013.

However, the severe lack of inspection stations has annoyed car owners in many big cities in particular, with an average of 50,000 cars using one inspection line, said Li Jiangping with the ministry's traffic management bureau.

The guideline urged the privatization of all vehicle safety inspection stations. Many stations are operated by police departments.

Inspection stations should not be run by police, quality supervision departments or their subordinate bodies, the guideline stipulated.

The approval of establishing more inspection stations should be accelerated to meet demand, Li said.

Under the new policy, policemen and inspectors with quality supervision departments as well as their spouses and children will be forbidden from operating inspection stations to prevent possible corruption.

The guideline also highlighted the legal responsibility of stations. In cases where cars that have passed inspections cause fatal accidents due to vehicle safety problems, the related inspection stations will be held accountable and harshly punished.

The MPS promised to release more specifics on the inspection program in the following months to ensure the smooth implementation of the guideline.