The northern province of Hebei in China is pledging to clean up its act after it was dubbed as the highest contributor to the country’s air pollution.
A report from Reuters on Wednesday revealed the province's response to a May report from the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) that accuses some coal-powered generators and steelmakers violated guidelines on expansion.
In response, Hebei vowed to "put environmental protection in a more prominent position" and tackle the 47 problems presented by the MEP to prevent the air quality from deteriorating even further.
The outlet said that the province houses 10 of the most air polluted cities in China.
In June, the World Bank announced that it would be supporting Hebei's efforts to curb air pollution in the country with the approval of a $500-million loan to the Chinese government.
"Hebei has set a goal to reduce PM2.5 by 25 percent by 2017 compared to 2012," World Bank Lead Environmental Specialist Garo J. Batmanian said in a statement. "This operation, together with the World Bank-funded Innovative Financing for Air Pollution Control in Jing-Jin-Ji program, will contribute to the achievement of this goal."
The Hebei Air Pollution Prevention and Control Program will focus on four areas, such as the control of industrial enterprises and reduction of multi-pollutants emission from key sectors, dust and area pollution control, prevention of emission from mobile sources, and the creation of monitoring and warning systems for air pollution.
Reuters cited official data from 2015 revealing that Hebei remains the top polluter in 2014 despite the slowdown in the Chinese economy.
It is also a noteworthy condition considering that the central government had already launched a reduction in industrial capacity, which should have lessened pollutants in the area.
However, World Bank Country Director for China Bert Hofman believes that the province's pollution control and reduction program "will make a substantial difference in reducing air pollution."