Wednesday Environmental watchdog focuses on seven cities

China’s environmental watchdog has sent inspection teams to seven cities to cope with a new round of severe smog.

The inspection teams sent by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) went to Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Baoding, Xingtai and Anyang, all of which are in northern China.

Inspectors discovered factories fabricating pollutant data in Anyang and Xingtai. A steel mill in Tangshan was found to have shut down a pollutant detector. Those responsible have been detained by local police, the MEP said in a statement.

In Tianjin, several cement producers in Tangshan were found to have continued operations when they should have been suspended.

In Shijiazhuang and Beijing, a ceramics producer and a paper maker cheated inspectors regarding the use of purifying equipment.

In Xingtai, a furniture plant refused access to inspectors who were attempting to conduct inspections.