BEIJING - More than 350,000 pure electric vehicles had been put into operation in the Chinese capital Beijing by the end of August 2020, Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau said Sunday.

Among these vehicles, 70,600 were used for public transportation, including 12,500 buses, 4,500 sanitation trucks and 9,900 taxis.

According to official data, the number of motor vehicles in the city had reached 6.53 million by August.

"Mobile sources of air pollution account for 45 percent of the PM2.5 density, small particulate matter that causes smog, in Beijing. Diesel and gasoline vehicles account for 32 percent and 29 percent of mobile sources respectively," said Lian Aiping with the bureau.

Beijing will adopt policies to encourage the elimination of high-emission vehicles and ban such vehicles from entering major roads of the city, according to Lian.