North China city gets tougher on smog control

SHIJIAZHUANG -- The city of Langfang, Hebei Province, which neighbors Beijing, has vowed to strengthen its efforts to curb air pollution by rolling out a set of tough measures.

The city has instigated an initiative to replace coal with gas and electricity, and further cut the number of coal-fired boilers, with the aim of lowering its PM2.5 density by over 18 percent between October 2017 to March 2018.

All the construction sites which fail to meet pollution control standards will be closed for improvements to be made. Trucks carrying construction materials will be equipped with positioning systems and fully enclosed containers.

Petrol stations selling gasoline or diesel that does not reach green standards will face severe fines and be closed for an indefinite period.

Stricter bans will be introduced to discourage the burning of straw and garbage.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has long been a victim of severe smog. Various measures have been taken both at local and national levels to clean the air in the region.

In August, an action plan on air pollution was put in place in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and neighboring regions with the aim of lowering the average PM2.5 density in the area by over 15 percent from October 2017 to March 2018.