(ECNS) -- The Ministry of Environmental Protection has summoned the heads of seven local governments over poor performance in combating air pollution.
They include Daxing District in Beijing, Beichen District in Tianjin, Zhaoxian County in Shijiazhuang City, Kaiping District in Tangshan, Yongnian District in Handan City, Shenzhou in Hengshui, and Hejin in Yuncheng City.
Liu Changgen, head of the National Environmental Protection Inspection Office, said the ministry organized an inspection on efforts to cut air pollution in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Shanxi from Feb. 15 to March 18.
The focus of the inspection was to see if local governments in pollution-hit areas had taken measures or responded actively to protect the environment.
Daxing District has the highest level of PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers) and PM10 in the capital city, and the concentration continued to rise this year. Tianjin's Beichen District also reported worsening air quality.
The one-month inspection found governments in these regions failed to implement effective measures to curb the sources of air pollution such as heavily polluting vehicles and illegal emissions from companies. In a village in Shenzhou, more than 10 small companies had not received approval to discharge pollutants.
The ministry has urged the seven regions to impose effective measures to enhance air quality.
