Air pollution to hit 20 Chinese cities including Beijing

A new round of air pollution is expected to hit Beijing and 20 other cities in eastern China due to unfavourable weather conditions, the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre warned on Sunday.

Apart from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which is expected to see heavy pollution from February 12 to 15, air quality in more than 20 cities in provinces such as Shandong and Henan is forecast to deteriorate from February 14 to 15 due to unfavourable weather conditions.

A cold front is expected to help disperse the pollution on February 16.

The air pollution returns to these cities after a fortnight holiday during which most of the factories have been shut down.