Vehicle exhaust has played a major role in forming smog and photochemical smog in China, according to a motor vehicle pollution report by the country's environmental authorities released on Tuesday.
The 2015 annual report on motor vehicle pollution and prevention unveiled by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) stated it is increasingly urgent to combat and prevent air pollution caused by vehicle emissions, which are a major source of China's air pollution.
The country had around 245 million motor vehicles in 2014 - 33 times the number seen in 1980 - including some 144 million cars. Over 23.7 million cars were produced, and 23.5 million cars were purchased.
Wang Jian, deputy head of the ministry's Department of Pollution Prevention and Control, said that as the world's biggest motor vehicle market and producer for six consecutive years, China is seriously affected by soot and exhaust.
In 2014, motor vehicles in China emitted a total of 45.47 million tons of pollutants, 0.5 percent less than was emitted in 2013, said the report. Vehicle emissions were the source of over 90 percent of all airborne particulate matter and nitrogen oxide pollution, and they were also the source of more than 80 percent of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
The Chinese government is facing an uphill battle to improve air quality. The capital, Beijing, saw only 186 days with air quality that met the national standard in 2015, said Beijing environmental authorities.
