Beijing and Tianjin will give financial and technological support to four cities in Hebei province to help them tackle air pollution.

 

In addition, the six cities are to build a unified emergency response system to cope with heavy smog.

 

Beijing will join forces with its two southern neighbours, Langfang and Baoding, while Tianjin will work with the neighbouring port cities of Tangshan and Cangzhou.

 

The cities in Hebei will receive special funds and advanced technology from the two municipalities.

 

All six cities, which form the core area for regional efforts to control air pollution, are to build a unified system to forecast heavy smog and implement emergency response measures. The project will draw on the experience gained from the coordinated efforts made during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Beijing in November, the capital's environmental bureau said.

 

The cities currently have their own emergency systems and impose different restrictions on the use of vehicles on smoggy days.

 

Seven of the 10 Chinese cities with the worst air pollution are in Hebei, but the province is making efforts to take at least Langfang off the list this year, the provincial Environmental Protection Bureau said on Wednesday.

 

Beijing needs to control the amount of pollutants blown in from other areas, since they are a major cause of smog in the capital, according to Ma Zhong, dean of Renmin University of China's School of Environment.

 

Research by the Beijing environmental bureau found that 28 to 36 percent of PM2.5 in the atmosphere over the capital comes from surrounding areas, including Hebei.

In addition, the governments need to unify standards on pollutant emissions, oil quality and sewage discharges. 

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