In a year in which India, France and the United Kingdom all pledged to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars, China is said to be planning a similar move.

Xinhua (the official press agency of the Chinese government) said on Monday that a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars was being mooted. China has some of the worst air pollution on the planet, an issue that leads to frequent strife in the world’s most populous nation.

The Chinese government is working on a timeline to end the sale of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, with the hope being that it would bolster the hopes of domestic manufacturers such as Hong Kong listed BYD and  the Beijing based BAIC Motor Company.

International names such as Tesla may come to mind when thinking of the global electric vehicle market, however the Chinese government is placing its hopes on the idea of a domestic surge in electric car production, a move that could simultaneously clean up air pollution and provide millions of jobs.

The Chinese government is a world leader in renewable energy generation, with domestic names such as Suntech and Yingli acting as innovators in solar.

Yet with pollution remaining a big issue in China, time will tell if the electric car revolution will take hold, and drive innovation in the same way China has led the way in renewable technology.