Smog set to lift in eastern China, but experts say solution is a long way off

The smog enveloping parts of the mainland, the severest so far this winter, will persist in eastern China until today, according to the National Meteorological Centre.

A cold front was expected to sweep across central and east parts of China starting last night, which would gradually clear the smog that has lingered in parts of the country for more than a week, the centre said yesterday.

Smog in Beijing and elsewhere in the north started to disperse yesterday. Revising the smog alert from "orange" down to "yellow" in the afternoon, the centre said haze would remain severe in parts of Zhejiang , Jiangsu , Anhui , Shandong , Henan and Hebei provinces until this afternoon.

The air quality indexes in nearly 80 cities yesterday were above 200, meaning the air was "heavily" or "severely" polluted.

Video: Eastern areas of China cloaked in smog

The country's three city clusters around Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have traditionally been the major victims of episodes of persistent smog. But the pattern has changed, with other inland cities being affected in provinces including Anhui, Hubei , Hunan and Jiangxi , according to Professor Chai Fahe, vice-president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.