China to extend winter anti-smog measures for another year

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will extend winter anti-smog measures such as production cuts and traffic restrictions for another year, the environment ministry said in a pollution battleplan for 2019 published on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment vowed to speed up the elimination of small coal-fired heating boilers in major regions. It will also step up the elimination of outdated and excessive production capacity in polluting sectors like steel, coal and coal-fired power.

It also said cities that have failed to meet air quality standards will be under pressure to cut concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 by at least 2 percent this year.

(Reporting by David Stanway; editing by Richard Pullin)