BEIJING • China’s capital city has issued its first major smog alert of the winter, triggering stringent measures to curb output of heavy industry as plunging temperatures spurred heating demand and the government launched another round of environmental checks..
BEIJING • China’s capital city has issued its first major smog alert of the winter, triggering stringent measures to curb output of heavy industry as plunging temperatures spurred heating demand and the government launched another round of environmental checks.
The orange alert issued late on Thursday, the second-highest on China’s four-level system, comes after Beijing was reported to have made big improvements in air quality last year as industrial activity shifted away from the capital.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) warned in a statement that heavy air pollution would envelope Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the surrounding area from yesterday until Wednesday.
Under an orange alert, furniture and cement factories and other heavy industry must limit output by between 30 and 50 per cent. A list of firms in the capital affected contains more than 700 enterprises.
According to the forecast, southern areas of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, southern Shanxi, western Shandong and northern Hebei will experience toxic air from today to Monday.
