BEIJING — China’s cabinet announced Wednesday that it would try to cut pollution from coal-fired power plants by 60 percent by 2020 through upgrades to plants, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency. If successful, the plan for upgrades would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from such plants by 180 million metric tons, the report said.

The announcement formalizes a step China is taking to try to reach broader coal-use and emissions goals to decrease some of the world’s worst levels of air pollutants and to help in limiting climate change. China is by far the world’s largest coal consumer and emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Earlier this week, President Xi Jinping of China attended the start of the Paris climate talks to reiterate China’s commitment to helping in the global struggle to limit the effects of climate change. During those same days, levels of air pollution across northern China reached their peaks for the year so far. In parts of Beijing, levels of deadly, fine particulate matter called PM 2.5 were 40 times as high as the recommended daily exposure limit set by the World Health Organization.

The cabinet, the State Council, said Wednesday that the upgrades to coal-fired power plants would mean a reduction in raw coal use of around 100 million metric tons. That is consistent with an earlier policy plan announced by the government that said new coal-fired power generating units would consume about 300 grams of coal per kilowatt-hour on average. The power industry accounts for about half of China’s annual coal use.