Beijing has phased out more than 217,000 vehicles with excessive exhaust emissions in the first seven months of the year, reaching the annual target five months ahead, the municipal environmental protection said on Monday.

Removing these old vehicles from the roads can reduce the major air pollutants by 60,000 tons in a year and improve the air quality, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said, adding it could cut the emissions of nitrogen oxides by 6,176 tons and hydrocarbons by 5,592 tons.

Of the over 217,000 phased out vehicles, half of the owners have received subsidies from the government, depending on the type of vehicle and ranging from 8,000 yuan to 21,500 yuan.

The exhaust emissions of vehicles have been a major contributor to the air pollution in Beijing, accounting for 31.1 percent of air pollutants in the capital, the bureau said.

Thus the capital has taken strict restrictions on vehicle exhaust emissions, withmore than 1.65 million old vehicles with excessive emissions phased out since 2011.