A surge in the size of the automobile population has caused vehicular emissions to become a major source of urban atmospheric pollution. Elevating standards is an effective method of controlling vehicular emissions and improving air quality. Light-duty vehicles are the major contributors to HC and CO emissions as they constitute a large proportion of all vehicles. Consequently, controlling light-duty vehicular emissions has been the primary means of air pollution prevention in China. This paper first reviews the progress of emission control standards in mainland China. Second, it analyzes features of the China 6 emissions standards, namely the continuation of European standards, the harmony of global technology regulations, and fusion with the standards of the USA. This is followed by a description and discussion of the status of research on mainstream after-treatment technologies such as the gasoline particulate filter, lean-NOx trap, and selective catalytic reduction. Finally, this study argues that the technical routes for implementing three-way catalysts, gasoline particulate filters, and onboard refueling vapor recovery in gasoline vehicles and diesel oxidation catalysts, diesel particulate filters, and selective catalyst reduction in diesel vehicles meet China 6 standards. Moreover, onboard diagnostics-based control of light vehicle emissions is introduced, and the development directions of vehicle gasoline (the reduction in sulfur, olefin, and aromatic content and vapor pressure control in summer) and vehicle diesel (an increase in the Cetane number and reduction in the forecasted polycyclic aromatic content) are discussed. State-of-the-art outlook for light-duty vehicle emission control standards in China