Shaanxi turns up heat on open-air grills

Open-air barbecues will be banned in public urban areas in Shaanxi province as part of the region's latest proposals to regulate air pollution.

For the first time, the province has proposed to establish an air pollution prevention act in response to its worsening air quality.

The proposed act stipulates that those who hold open-air barbecues in major urban areas will be fined a maximum of 50,000 yuan ($8,153) and those who run restaurants in residential buildings and other buildings without flues, or pipes to convey smoke to a chimney, will be fined from 250 yuan to 50,000 yuan.

In recent years, air pollution in cities in the province has worsened and Xi'an, the provincial capital, experienced only 32 days of good air quality from January to May.

The proposal was sent to the provincial legislative body for approval on July 23.