◎ Yang Honghui

“As of the end of May, 51 Chinese and foreign tire enterprises have registered their enterprise information on China tire label application platform, among which 26 enterprises have finished their label application. China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) has issued 149 labels, covering total 1,018 tire specifications of C1, C2 and C3 tires”, Zhu Hong, head of CRIA Technical and Economic Committee, told the reporter of China Rubber on 2018 Global Technology Forum held by CRIA in Hefei on June 13.

The number of labels and companies that have completed Chinese tire labels 

According to Zhu Hong, among 149 labels that has been completed application, 60 are C1 tire labels applied for by 16 firms, accounting for 40% of the total; 79 are C3 tire labels applied for by 13 firms, accounting for 53%; and 10 are C2 tire labels applied for by 3 firms, accounting for 7%.

Summary table for 26 enterprises who have nished label application 

For tire labels that have been finished application, the largest number appear in C class in terms of rolling resistance, accounting for 66% of these tire labels, following by D class, accounting for 20%, and B class for 7%. As for 79 tire labels with C3 that have been finished application, tires of C class constitute 56% and D class 38%. For 60 tire labels with C1 that have been finished application, tires of C class constitute 73% and B class 15%.

As for the level of wet-skid resistance, tire labels with C class constitute the largest proportion, accounting for 49% of the total, following by B class, accounting for 41%, and A class for 4%. Among 79 tire labels with C3 that have been finished application, tires of C class constitute 53% and B class 38%. For 60 tire labels with C1 that have been finished application, tires of B class constitute 43% and C class 45%. From the aspect of noise level, it can be seen that tires of B class account for the highest 73%.

As far as we know, early in 1997, the market share of European green tire reached 60% of European passenger car tire market, which was further increased to 90% in 2002. At present, green tires have already covered all the market share of passenger car tires in Europe. In 2010, the output of green tire only took 2% of the total tire output in China, which reached to 30% in 2017 and is expected to constitute 50% of the national tire output in 2020.

“CRIA conducted a questionnaire specially for China’s tire labeling system in May this year and those who were surveyed were tire manufacturers and dealers. The total number of valid return was 34, including 28 pieces from tire manufacturers, 5 pieces from tire dealers and 1 piece from another firm”, said Zhu Hong.

From the questionnaire, it can be seen that in the aspect of tire manufacturers, as application for labeling tire is not mandatory and required by law and because of some reasons of enterprises themselves, many tire manufacturers still have not applied for tire labels; for the types of tires applying for labeling, enterprises make different choices, but mainly focus on those are sold well, having good performance or new products; the proportion of labeled tires that put into market is within 10% of the total output; for whether rolling resistance, wet-skid resistance and noise level should be listed as national compulsory certification, opinions vary from enterprises; and nearly 60% of tire manufacturers are worried about the creditworthiness of their competitors.

In the aspect of tire dealers, above 90% of labeled tires are sold by dealers; all dealers understand China’s tire labels and sell these kind of tires; for tires of the same type, those with labels have the price advantage and dealers will also recommend these kind of tires to customers actively; and customers, beside considering brands when buying tires, are willing to purchase those labeled tires.

According to reports, CRIA released the group standards Tire Grading Standard (T/CRIA 11003-2016) and Tire Labeling Management Regulation (T/CRIA 11004-2016) on June 15, 2016, which were put into effect on September 15 of the same year. Meanwhile, the data platform for China tire label application and management was officially launched on September 15, 2016. The implementing principle for tire labeling in China is “enterprises declare by themselves and post of their own accords”. Any tire enterprise can enter “Label Application” on http://www.cria.org. cn for registration and application.