China to improve smog response measures

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China's environmental ministry said Friday that it was evaluating 20 cities' emergency plans for dealing with heavy air pollution, hoping to improve their abilities to respond to smog.

Chen Jining, Minister of Environmental Protection, made the remarks at a press conference, noting that the cities to be evaluated include Beijing, Tianjin and 18 other cities in Hebei and surrounding provinces.

China's Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining attends the press conference on March 11, 2016 in Beijing, China. /CFP Photo

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said inspections had found some cities failing to take effective measures following alerts, or their measures were impracticable. The ministry will enhance its supervision on whether local governments have practiced its precautions, according to the minister.

Chen vowed to take concrete steps and employ more stringent and effective measures to deal with outstanding environmental problems and improve the quality of the environment.

On Monday, the ministry announced that its 10 inspection teams had found companies resuming production despite a government ban, and not complying with emission reduction measures.

CFP Photo

When authorities issue red alerts – the highest level of China’s four-tier warning system, some manufacturing companies are required to cut production and highly polluting vehicles are banned from the roads.

The ministry had given out punishments after finding that more than 500 construction sites and enterprises and 10,000 vehicles had breached pollution response plans.

Many regions in northern China, including Beijing, have experienced heavy smog since Friday, December 30. In some areas, visibility has been reduced to less than 50 meters.

(Adapted from Xinhua)