China will subsidise purchases of green vehicles in five cities to cut emissions, save energy and spur the development of green technology.

The government will offer buyers subsidies of up to 50,000 Yuan ($7,300) for plug-in hybrid passenger cars and 60,000 Yuan for pure electric vehicles, the finance ministry says on its website.

The subsidy programme will be trialled in Shanghai, the north eastern city of Changchun, the southern city of Shenzhen and the eastern cities of Hangzhou and Hefei.

China is pushing green energy technologies and wants sales of green vehicles to account for 10 to 15 per cent of total sales by 2020. Last year China overtook the United States to become the world’s biggest auto market.