Sept. 27 - The Chinese government is to scrap its decades-old policy of banning private cars from the roads after 15 years of use, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said.

 

Chen Lin, deputy head of the ministry's department for market system building, said at a forum on the automobile industry that the standard for phasing out non-commercial passenger vehicles would be revised.

 

While years of usage was a major index in the current standard, the new standard would focus more on road-worthiness. Safety and emission levels would be the most important indices in the new standard, he said.

 

China is one of the world's biggest automobile markets after an explosive growth in recent years.

 

Industry forecasts estimate that China's vehicle production is likely to break the seven million mark this year, overtaking Germany to become the third largest producer in the world after the United States and Japan.