China plans to remove more than five million cars from the roads this year in a bid to combat pollution, with 330,000 cars set to be taken off roads in Beijing alone, according to government statements.

Government documents revealed Tuesday that the strategy will hone in on 'yellow label' cars which fail to meet China's fuel standards.

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Around 660,000 vehicles will be eliminated from China's Hubei province, which is home to seven of China's most polluted cities.

The nation's capital also plans on limiting the number of cars on the road to 5.6 million this year with the possibility of numbers rising to six million in 2017.

The move is the government's response to decades of damage done to the environment after years of rapid economic growth.

China's leadership also hope that the move will head off public anger in regards to the state of the country's water, air, and soil.

According to Beijing's environmental watchdog, vehicle emissions in Beijing were responsible for about 31 percent of the hazardous airborne particles known as PM 2.5, with 22.4 percent originating from coal burning - causing the nation to make pollution control an urgent priority.

China seems to be following in the footsteps of Mexico's capital where levels of major air pollutants routinely exceed the maximum exposure limits established by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In 1989, Mexico City responded to the threat by putting in place a road ration in which only certain vehicles could drive on specific days of the week.

However, studies showed that the road restrictions did little to control emissions or improve the environment as people found creative ways around the ban which resulted in more vehicles on the thoroughfares than before.

This raises concern over whether or not China will be able to effectively achieve its goal of cutting carbon emission per unit of economic growth by more than 4 percent this year simply by removing large quantities of vehicles from the roads.

TagsPollution