The Chinese government is fully aware of the problems caused by air pollution and it's making sincere efforts to reduce carbon emissions. According to Bloomberg, China will order the end of production of 553 passenger cars beginning January 1, 2018. Although this is merely one way of reducing the country's emissions, it's still a big step because the government is forcing automakers to do something they probably wouldn't be in a rush to do on their own.

Starting tomorrow, the China Vehicle Technology Service Center will put specific models built by the VW Group, General Motors and Daimler-Benz on the dirty car list, and those automakers have no choice but to oblige if they want to continue doing business in the world's largest auto market. This is the first time China has made a list of so-called offending vehicles and, according to Chinese analysts, there'll be more to come. "To emphasize a cut back on energy consumption, such documents will surface frequently in the future," one analyst said. "It's an essential move to ensure the healthy development of the industry in the long run."

Although 553 models may sound like a lot, the secretary General of the China Passenger Car Association told Bloomberg that figure represents a "very small" number of cars currently in production. Beginning in 2019, China will begin requiring for plug-in hybrids and electric cars to make up 10 percent of all new car sales. That means automakers will, once again, have no choice but to obey the government's orders. Welcome to 21st century communist rule.