The crisis spurred a call by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the country to develop clean energy sources. Xi urged northern China to substitute natural gas and electricity for coal to heat buildings during the winter in order to reduce smog, Xinhua reported.
More than 20 cities in the country’s northeast, including Beijing, had been under a pollution “red alert” - the highest of a four-tiered, color-coded warning system - until Thursday.
Some 460 million people were affected by the blanket of smog, according to environmental group Greenpeace.
/AFP/
Choking smog clears from northern China
23 December 2016
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Smoggy skies turned clear in parts of China Thursday after nearly a full week of severe pollution which saw scores of flights cancelled and forced the closure of schools in some areas.
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