Inspection team shifts to high gear, grills Hebei's top leaders

For the first time, Chinese environmental protection authorities have shown their teeth as part of State power by summoning provincial leaders for a talk-down session over local pollution problems.

The central government's inspection team on environmental protection called the top bosses of Hebei province for a meeting on Tuesday, official media reported.

Hebei, which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin, has many highly polluting heavy industries such as coal power, steel and cement. The province has recently seen repeated hazardous-smog alerts.