中国今年将淘汰500万污染汽车

China plans to take more than five million ageing vehicles off the road this year, in a bid to reduce air pollution. In Beijing alone, 330,000 cars will be banned from roaming the streets.

The plan comes as China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, says the country’s environmental protection effort still lags behind a government target established in the 12th five-year plan.

The NDRC and the Ministry of Environmental Protection met Monday to discuss China’s environmental work for 2014 and 2015. The government will continue to battle industrial carbon emissions while boosting environmentally friendly industries and the services sector.

China has declared war on the country’s pervasive pollution and the environmental ministry is considering a new policy to hire more private contractors in a move that would let the market economy play a greater role in easing China’s troubling pollution.

The ministry is reportedly already calling for local governments to commission private firms to handle sewage treatment and the cleaning of contaminated waterways and soil.