China has limited vehicles on road and suspended factory production, taking emergency response measures to control worsening air pollution.
The National Meteorological Centre (NMC) today issued a yellow alert for smog. It was the fourth straight day such a warning has been announced.
North China's Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, went on orange alert, the second highest, today followed by an emergency response.
The emergency response cuts private vehicles in use by 20 per cent on the basis of the last digit of their license plate. Such vehicles remained off the roads.
Capital Beijing has already restricted car sales.
Several steel makers and related enterprises in five cities of China's top steel producer Hebei province were shut down today morning.
Overcapacity has become the major concern in tackling pollution in Hebie. The latest move reduced iron production capacity and steel making by 6.71 million and 1.49 million tonnes respectively, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Beijing went on orange alert on Friday for the first time. Manufacturing plants in the city have suspended or cut production, building work is halted, and no barbecues are allowed.
According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, 36 enterprises have suspended production and another 75 have reduced output.
Almost all of north, east and central China are facing problems due to pollution with severe smog being reported from Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Liaoning.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection today said it had sent 12 inspection teams to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas to check the response to the pollution.
