China set its 2018 economic growth target at "around 6.5 percent" on Monday, in line with expectations but lower than the 6.9 percent output registered last year.

China is the world’s biggest passenger car market so an announcement by Xin Guobin, China’s vice-minister of the Industry and Information Technology Ministry, that the country is planning to phase out production and sales of fossil fuel cars has sent tremors through the global industry.