China raps firms over smog emission levels

China has criticised firms in and around Beijing for ignoring emission restrictions and going over limits imposed to control smog.

The country's environment agency has imposed traffic controls in Beijing and neighbouring Hebei province, and told firms to cut production or slow down building work during periods of heavy smog.

The ministry said a number of businesses had not paid attention to the emergency measures, which are part of efforts to control dangerous air pollution levels.

In a statement, it said 11 businesses in Hebei and nine in neighbouring Shandong province were found to have exceeded the limits between Sunday and Wednesday when smog covered an area of some 260,000 square kilometres (161,560 square miles).

The ministry named and shamed a subsidiary of the Tangshan Thermal Power Company as a culprit, as well as cement and glass manufacturers in the region, and said a number of building sites in Beijing had failed to follow regulations to cut the level of dust.

It said it would continue to publicly name those guilty of illegal behaviour and would also impose tougher punishments for those who disobeyed the law.

The ministry is due to begin a new round of inspections at the end of the week in Hebei, the major coal-producing regions of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang, a major oil and gas producer.

The Beijing government in 2014 launched a "war on pollution" and gave the ministry more powers to oversee businesses and punish offenders who were caught out.

It was given special powers earlier this year to send out investigation teams to monitor business activities and it was one of those inspections that found Hebei firms had been flouting the rules and behaving fraudulently.

Local (Stuttgart: 19549987.SG - news) government in charge of the firms has promised to ensure better behaviour.

The environment ministry says the smog in cities including Beijing, Tangshan and Baoding, is due to "unfavourable weather".