The clean fuel vehicle is the pragmatic solution to China's dilemma between the explosively growing automobile industry and urban air pollution, said Barbara Finamore, president of Professional Association of China Environment (PACE), on Friday.

Finamore spoke during the two-day PACE 2003 Symposium on China 's Environment and Natural Resources, which opened Thursday. She and her environmental community offered advice on China's clean fuel automobile program.

China produced 3.25 million cars in 2002 and over two million in the first six months of 2003. Motor vehicles are the largest source of urban air pollution in China's major cities.

So far, the Chinese government has invested 880 million yuan ( about 106 million US dollars) in research and development of the electric car, hybrid car and hydrogen-based fuel cell car.

Finamore suggested research be focused on a few central components instead of the whole car. She also recommended domestic car-makers cooperate with international players to learn their technologies.

However, Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Energy Tech- Innovation Project of Kennedy School of Harvard University, said multinationals often transfer outdated technologies to Chinese partners and seldom update technology as long as China's current emission standards are met.

The Chinese government should make tighter emission standards to push multinationals to raise their production technologies in China, Gallagher suggested.

"China can learn at least two lessons from the United State's experience in developing alternative fuel cars," said Zhao Jinmin, Research Investigator in the School of Natural Resources and Environment of the University of Michigan.

"One is that the infrastructure is as important as the vehicle, another is that the government should subsidize clean fuel car users," said Zhao.

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