A new winter plan to curb emissions in northern China will not be enough to reverse last year's sharp increase, official data shows, raising concerns that a weakening economy is eroding Beijing's resolve to tackle pollution.
In an action plan for October 2019 to March 2020, China said 28 smog-prone northern cities, including the capital, Beijing, would have to curb emissions of lung-damaging small particles known as PM2.5 by an average of 4 percent from a year ago.
The particles are a major component of the smog that engulfs China's northern regions over winter as people switch on coal-fired heating systems.