China

The international solar industry sector is holding its collective breath as it awaits the real fallout from the US Commerce Department’s decision today to punish China solar panel makers with hefty tariffs ranging from about 31 percent to as high as 250 percent on charges of illegal “dumping.” The Chinese have so far remained silent on the decision, which was announced overnight in Asia, but it won’t stay mum for long and the response is almost certain to be more than measured.

Beijing will introduce new fuel standards on May 31 that municipal officials say are nearly on a par with the European Union's Euro V, the first Chinese city to do so.

The move this week by the US Consulate in Shanghai to monitor and publish the level of fine particulate matter, less than two microns in diameter (PM2.5), in the air around its office has caused a certain amount of confusion and consternation among local residents and officials. The US diplomats are in part to blame for this because, although their measurements are no doubt sound, their data presentation in somewhat misleading. Following in the footsteps of the country’s embassy in Beijing, the Shanghai consulate now publishes the concentration of PM2.5 in micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3) on an hourly basis and also publishes the average over the previous 24 hours at noon and midnight each day.

China will provide financial subsidies of 26.5 billion yuan (USD4.2 billion) to stimulate the consumption of energy-saving products, mainly automobiles and household appliances, the State Council announced today.

China's central government is to launch a special fund to support weather modification operations by local authorities in areas prone to drought and haze, according to a Ministry of Finance announcement yesterday.