Pollution among concerns addressed

Ministries and State Council departments have responded to a number of public and media concerns over the past week. One that attracted the most attention is the ongoing heavy pollution over Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and nearby provinces, for which Beijing and several other cities have already issued red alerts.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said their monitoring system had forecast heavy pollution weeks ago and had already sent official warnings to the governments of the municipalities and provinces affected. The ministry shared information with the provincial-level governments, and required them to issue alerts in time.

The ministry also said they had sent 13 inspection teams to the cities affected, to check whether they have taken the necessary measures to fight heavy pollution, such as limiting vehicles and curbing enterprises producing excessive emissions.