Beijing still one of worst polluted cities in China despite smog crackdown
Chinese capital and surrounding provinces showed no improvement in air quality last month, despite authorities’ campaign to combat smog
Air quality in the Chinese capital and neighbouring regions showed no improvement in September compared with last year, data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection showed, despite a major campaign to fight pollution.
The results will keep up pressure on Beijing, which has promised to show significant progress in cleaning up its filthy air by the end of this year.
Of 74 cities monitored by the ministry, Beijing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou in Henan province, Taiyuan in Shanxi and six cities in Hebei province – including the steel producing city of Tangshan – were China’s most polluted cities last month, the ministry said on Saturday.
All of the cities were among the 28 named by the ministry in August to be subject to a major campaign to tackle air pollution this winter.
But ahead of the campaign, local authorities had already begun to inspect factories, forcing many to shut down some of their operations during September.