China’s cabinet has adopted 10 measures to improve air quality in the latest move aimed at responding to the dense smog that has repeatedly enveloped Beijing and other major Chinese cities in recent years.

 

The newest and least-expected of them is a mandate that heavy polluters like coal-fired power plants and metal smelters must release detailed environmental information to the general public.

 

The cabinet also ordered that heavy polluters reduce their emissions for each renminbi or unit of economic output by 30 percent by the end of 2017. But if the economy grows 7 percent or more a year, as forecast, the decrease in total pollution would be modest.

 

The new 10-part program calls for greater cooperation among cities and provinces. For example, Beijing is trying to reduce its consumption of heavily polluting coal, but the nearby city of Tianjin and adjacent Hebei Province are expanding their already huge coal-dependent industries in sectors like petrochemicals and steel.

 

The cabinet’s action includes some measures already taken by very large municipal governments like Beijing and Shanghai. Both cities already require much cleaner gasoline and diesel, so that cars and trucks emit less tailpipe pollution, and those policies are now supposed to be applied nationwide.

 

The State Council also called for more cities to prepare emergency response plans for heavy pollution, including traffic restrictions and limits on local industries.

 

In addition, it ordered heavier fines for polluters and stricter requirements for environmental impact statements. Concerns about street protests over environmental disputes had already led the cabinet to announce last November that it would require a“social risk assessment” before allowing major industrial projects to proceed.