Top officials to head pollution inspections

Five leading officials from the Ministry of Environmental Protection will head inspection teams sent to Beijing, Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong to control air pollution.

Starting on Wednesday, inspections of the regions will be conducted over the period of a month.

Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining and four deputy ministers will participate in the monthlong environmental inspection program "to urge policymakers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and neighboring provinces to fulfill their duty of tackling air pollution, and to ensure the quality of inspections", according to a statement issued by the ministry.