Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei take different approaches to beating smog
Despite their different stages of economic development, neighbours Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei share a desire to defeat a common enemy
The governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province - known also as Jing-Jin-Ji - may have their differences in approach to regional integration, but the one thing not in dispute is the need to tackle the region's chronic air pollution.
With as many as eight of the region's cities usually making the list of China's 10-most polluted places, officials are under mounting political pressure to find a solution.
"Tackling air pollution is a focus of the plan," said Laurence Brahm, chief adviser on environmental economic policy to China's Ministry of Environmental Protection under a European Union dialogue programme on climate change.
After rolling out their own plans to cut emissions - including phasing out polluting industries and replacing dirty coal with cleaner natural gas - the three local governments also agreed that the solution required a concerted joint approach, as pollution pays no respect to administrative boundaries.
A coordinating committee was set up in October to lead the anti-pollution campaign, comprising not only officials from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei but also from surrounding provinces and several central ministries. Co-chaired by a deputy mayor of Beijing and a deputy minister of environmental protection, the group's main task is to provide joint forecasts on severe smog across the region and coordinate emergency responses when it occurs.
Initial results have been promising. In the first three months of this year, the average concentration of hazardous PM2.5 particulate - the tiny inhalable pollutants considered the most dangerous to human health - dropped by 9.5 per cent in 13 cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji area compared to a year earlier. Levels of the larger PM10 particles dropped by 8.3 per cent.