China removes 60 percent of high-emission vehicles

Beijing: China has removed 696,500 high-emission vehicles from roads nationwide, accounting for 60 percent of the country's high-emission cars, the environmental protection ministry said on Tuesday.China has only four months to remove the others to meet this year's target of pulling all high-emission commercial vehicles from the roads, Xinhua news agency reported.

The target was set in March aimed to improve air quality.

According to statistics released by the ministry, Tianjin municipality has fulfilled its share ahead of schedule, while 13 provincial regions including Hunan, Shandong, Hainan and Fujian have fallen behind with less than 50 percent of their work completed.

To accelerate the removal of targeted vehicles, the ministry has filed monthly reports briefing the public on the latest developments in each provincial region since July.