Beijing joins neighboring regions to fight smog

BEIJING -- Beijing's environmental authority announced a new campaign to curb air pollution as autumn marks the start of the smoggy season.

The Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said in the campaign, it has tightened joint air pollution inspection and law enforcement with Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, both neighboring regions of the Chinese capital.

Law enforcement will target industries such as steel, coking, cement, glass-making, non-ferrous metals and garbage incinerators.

Petrochemical, auto manufacturing, furniture, mechanical parts and packaging industries that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will also be targeted, according to an announcement by the bureau.

Companies that lack environmental documents or that violate emissions rules will be punished. Production will be halted and the people responsible risk detention, it said.

Those who tamper with emissions monitoring data will be punished harshly, it said.

Smog is common in Beijing in late autumn and winter. The city aims to decrease its current level of particulate matter, also known as particle pollution, from 80.6 micrograms to 56 micrograms per cubic meter of air by 2020.