This Day, That Year

Item from Dec 29, 1998, in China Daily: More than 10,000 abandoned motor vehicles, including police cars, were sent to Beijing's Shougang Group to be melted down for scrap iron.

It is one of the important measures to reduce the capital's pollution.

The country's automobile industry has ushered in explosive growth since 2000, with car ownership rising to 205 million by June, the world's largest.