Five cities in Hebei are China's worst polluters

Smog-shrouded Hebei province's six major cities were among the top 10 cities with severe air pollution during the first seven months of 2017. But officials insisted on imposing tougher controls for the coming months to meet annual reduction targets.

The latest data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Wednesday showed the top five cities with severe air pollution among the 74 major domestic cities were from Hebei province. Handan topped the list.

Reaching beyond the province, the 13 major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region experienced good air on only half (50.6 percent) the days during that period, a year-on-year decline of 6.8 percent. The PM2.5 average level increased by 11.3 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.