China seeks a 30% public transport trip share to combat heavy smog, reports say

China's State Council has issued a five-year plan declaring a target for the country's large cities to provide 30% of trips by public transport in order to fight the heavy smog afflicting urban areas, according to Reuters.

The news agency reported China's environment agency as saying that excessive resource use was holding back the country's economic development after smog has lingered over large parts of the north of the country for most of the last fortnight. There were over the weekend also reports that Beijing's Mayor Cai Qi will take a further 300,000 high-emission cars off the roads in 2017.

Xinhua News Agency said the city had already removed 340,000 ageing vehicles from roads last year but the city still has among the highest air pollution levels in the world, with annual mean levels of particulates exceeding World Health Organisation limits many times over.