China names and shames cities over smog controls

China’s environment ministry has named and shamed several cities in the north of the country for not doing enough to cope with smog, state news agency Xinhua reported. Large parts of northern China have been blanketed in choking smog this winter, defying repeated government efforts to tackle the problem. The ministry’s inspection of 18 cities in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province found problems in their smog response, including inadequate planning and poor implementation.