At least 17,000 polluting companies have been shutdown in China and 28,600 enterprises were ordered to suspend operation following a nine-month intensified pollution inspection by the Chinese government, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has announced.

Chinese authorities have inspected about 1.41 million enterprises in China from January to September of this year as part of the government's intensified campaign to resolve the pollution problem that has been hounding the country's major regions and cities.

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The inspection resulted to the discovery of 46,800 enterprises that were discharging pollutants and 63,600 companies that were involved in illegal construction projects, all of which contributed to the heavy smog that has been enveloping the skies of China.

The ministry said the inspection teams were sent across the country, including Xinjiang, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing. Aside from the team of inspectors, the ministry also received tip-offs from the public about pollution through pollution hotline.

The list of the companies that have been shut down for violating China's pollution laws has not been officially released.

As this developed, environmental experts said Air quality in Beijing and surrounding regions may improve from "severe pollution" to "good" in the next few days.

The air quality was predicted to be "good" on Saturday and only light pollution is expected in Beijing on Sunday. Most cities in the urban areas of Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing were also expected to experience good air quality, according to the experts.

The predictions were released during the meeting called by the Ministry of Environmental Protection last Friday. The ministry called for the meeting as 70 northern and central Chinese cities experienced worsened smog pollution.

About 50 cities in China's eastern and northern regions have already issued air pollution alerts due to the recent bout smog. Beijing has already issued the most severe warning, which is red, last December 19 to 22.

TagsChina Air Pollution, china air quality