Light-duty vehicle emissions control: A brief introduction to the China 6 emissions standard

China has been the world's largest new vehicle market since 2009 and new vehicle sales exceeded 28 million in 2016, among which more than 87% were light-duty vehicles (LDV). In order to reduce emissions and control air pollution China has recently adopted the China 6 emissions standard for LDV which is 50% more stringent than China 5. Besides strengthening the tailpipe emissions limits, China 6 changes the emissions test driving cycle to the Worldwide Harmonised Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (WLTC), adds real road emissions requirements and significantly strengthens evaporative emissions control. This paper introduces the standard development background, summarises the key technical improvements and discusses the areas for further improvements in future.