All Shenzhen gas stations yesterday started providing cleaner fuels meeting the China III standard, which are more expensive than the previously available fuels by 0.13 yuan (US$0.0167) to 0.15 yuan per liter.

Most motorists welcomed the cleaner fuels, which are expected to reduce the vehicular emissions in the city by about 44,200 tons annually. But bus companies and taxi drivers complained that the price hikes will greatly eat into their profits.

"I'm willing to pay a little bit more on cleaner fuels," motorist Huang Jianzhong said while waiting for his car to be filled with No. 97 unleaded gasoline at a gas station near Lotus Hill Park yesterday.

Huang now pays 5.34 yuan per liter of No. 97 gasoline, 0.15 yuan higher than the fuel he used in the past. He believes his annual fuel expenditure will rise by about 300 yuan, which is acceptable, he said.

While the price hikes will not have much of an influence on private motorists like Huang, taxi drivers have complained that the expensive fuels will make their lives harder.

"Every price hike of fuels makes me nervous," said a taxi driver who only give his surname Li. Li said he will have to pay about 10 yuan more for petrol every day, and his company has no plan to subsidize the extra cost.

Li is looking forward to a fuel surcharge that the government is planning to introduce. The pricing bureau will soon hold a public hearing on the possibility of tying taxi fares to fuel prices.

Shenzhen Bus Group, the biggest bus operator in the city, said the price hikes will increase its daily fuel cost by about 20,000 yuan. A company spokesperson said it will not increase bus fares, which are already the highest in the nation.

With the number of vehicles registered in Shenzhen reaching 1 million in early March, car exhaust has become a major polluter in the city.

With the enforcement of the China III standard, which is similar to the Euro III standard, the amount of noxious pollutants discharged in the city will drop by around 30 to 50 percent, according to the city's environment watchdog.

Shenzhen is the second city to adopt the China III standard in China, after Beijing.

Editor: Yan