Beijing (Mar. 27, 2012) – China's Rubber Industry Association has officially launched a programme to develop 'green tyres'.

The plan calls for half China's tyre makers to be capable of producing a fuel-efficient tyre by the end of the current 5-year plan, and for 25 percent of car tyre production to be 'green tyres' by the same date.

One element in the plan is to draw up national standards based on the EU tyre labelling rules. Another will be subsidies to selected tyre makers to upgrade their technology and possibly to accelerate consolidation of the industry.

The decision to establish a strategic plan follows immediately on from a round table held with EU authorities a few months ago. The plan is to first introduce a voluntary scheme, followed by a mandatory scheme, following the model of Korea, but using limits and categories defined in EU legislation.

The report says 'green tyre' is ill-defined, but is not limited to silica mixing. It also includes manufacturing aspects, such as adherence to EU REACH regulations; reduced energy consumption during manufacture and improved ventilation of fume within factories.