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The city of Beijing has long been looking for ways to curb its vehicle-related smog [Xinhua}
Speaking on the sidelines of a Beijing forum on Sunday, the minister said that by 2025, at least one in every five cars sold in China will be a new energy model.
This would quadruple the number the number of new-energy vehicles produced.
Last year, the country produced over half a million new energy vehicles and sold over one million, local media reported citing the ministry.
China has for years struggled to curb heavy air-pollution in the capital, caused by high-emission vehicles.
In mid-December, China’s National Meteorological Center (NMC) warned of heavy smog in Beijing and other provinces in northern China such as Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Shanxi. It issued a red alert’ China’s color code alerts include red – as the most dangerous and lethal, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
The smog warning comes despite stern measures from Chinese authorities to battle air pollution. In Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province for example, factories which are heavy polluters have been shut down until the end of 2016 while cars have been forced to follow an alternate access schedule.
Beijing will ban high-emission vehicles, Chinese officials have said.
According to the Chinese capital’s newly revised extreme weather emergency response mechanism which began in December, these vehicles will be restricted from roads when the city issues red or orange smog alerts – the city’s two most serious weather and pollution alerts.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
