Beijing cuts coal use by 7 percent in first half of year

Beijing cut coal consumption by 7 percent in the first half of 2014 as part of its efforts to tackle smog, the city's environmental protection bureau said.

Beijing is at the front line of a "war on pollution" declared by the central government earlier this year in a bid to head off public unrest about the growing environmental costs of economic development.

The city has already started to close or relocate hundreds of factories and industrial plants.