BEIJING ¡ª China will begin its first independent vehicle crash tests next week as the government adopts a new system described as "consistent with the international New Car Assessment Program [NCAP]."

News of the crash-test program was reported by Xinhuanet, which said the first vehicle to be tested will be the Nissan X-Trail, assembled locally by Dongfeng Automobile.

Crash tests previously were conducted by the manufacturers, who were under no legal obligation to publish the results. Under the new system, the China Automotive Technology and Research Center in Beijing will conduct official tests.

CATARC, which participates in setting national automotive standards, said it has tested 1,200 vehicles for various manufacturers since 1999. The center said it plans to test 10-15 vehicles each year.

What this means to you: Chinese consumers soon will be able to read the same sort of independent crash-test results as their counterparts in Europe, Japan and North America.