N. China is breathing a little easier

Efforts in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are paying off, ministry says

A government action plan addressing air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has achieved better-than-expected results, the country's top environmental authority said on Thursday.

The plan, jointly launched last year by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and nine other ministries, aimed to cut the density of particulate matter and days with heavy air pollution in 28 cities by at least 15 percent from October to March.