GUANGZHOU — Guangzhou, a metropolis in southern China, plans to more than triple the number of full-electric buses on its roads this year.

By the end of 2018, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, should have 10,000 electric buses, compared with current 3,110, according to the city's environmental protection bureau.

The move will limit harmful nitrogen oxide emissions.

A work plan issued by the provincial government in 2017 required that all of Guangzhou's buses should be electric by 2020. The city has more than 14,000 buses.

Many Chinese cities are encouraging clean energy-powered transport as part of the country's efforts to protect the environment.

Shenzhen city in Guangdong has put more than 16,000 purely electric buses on its roads. Taiyuan, the city at the center of the coal industry in northern China's Shanxi province, has made all its taxis electric, and the city plans to add 1,000 electric buses in 2018.