Shanghai plans to cut the number of official fireworks wholesale outlets in the city by half this year, the city's fire protection authority said Monday.

The city has 16 official wholesale outlets for fireworks and the number will be slashed at least by half by the end of the year, the Shanghai Fire Protection Bureau told local legislators.

The number of retail stores will also be limited with a stricter standard to be set up later this year, the bureau said in a report to the legislative body.

"The fireworks have caused many public dangers including fire and air pollution, so the city government should ban the fireworks," a legislator Li Ming said yesterday.