China wants to ban the production and sale of pure petrol and diesel cars in an aggressive move designed to fight its growing air pollution problem.

Xin Guobin, the vice minister of transport in the worlds biggest car market, told China’s official news agency Xinhua "Those measures will certainly bring profound changes for our car industry's development”.

The new legislation would come as a boost to plans designed to make electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars to account for at least a fifth of new cars sold by 2025.

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While no start date has been announced, car makers in China are expected to have to ensure 8% of their sales are for EVs or PHEVs by the end of 2018, with that figure rising to 12% in 2020.

Several car makers from Europe, including Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen and Mercedes produce cars with Chinese partners within the country’s borders, meaning they’d have to meet those requirements.

China’s plans echo those announced by the UK government earlier this year, where new pure petrol and diesel cars will be banned for sale from 2040.