Worst polluting Chinese cities to be named and shamed each month
Under new pollution plan, four areas must cut coal use and phase out dirtiest industries
The central government set its first provincial-level coal-reduction targets yesterday in a bid to clean up its air, as a foreign car executive said his mainland counterparts could do more to reduce emissions.
The industrial region surrounding Beijing will be required to make cuts in its coal use and phase out the dirtiest industries under new, more detailed air pollution targets released yesterday by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Four northern areas - Beijing, Tianjin , Hebei and Shandong - have been asked to cut their annual coal consumption by a total of 83 million tonnes by 2017, according to an official document.
The four areas currently use a combined 670 million tonnes of coal annually.
In addition, Shanxi and Shandong provinces must lower levels of tiny particulate pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns, or PM2.5, by 20 per cent by 2017 from last year's levels.
Levels of the pollutant - the most harmful to human health - should also drop by 10 per cent in Inner Mongolia during the same period.
