The country is also introducing new standards to phase out imported "dirty" coal, which is blamed for causing the smog that regularly envelops cities such as Beijing.
The Chinese public are increasingly enraged by hazardous smog that regularly blankets cities, as well as water and soil that are laced with heavy metals and various other toxic pollutants.
Smog levels regularly top levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The region suffers from dense air pollution, with the vast reforestation project intended to counter smog that regularly envelops the capital and parts of the northern provinces, especially in winter.
Mixed with the dense photo-chemical smogs that regularly hang over most large traffic-choked Asian cities, south-east Asia's air pollution has become not just a major public health hazard but is said to be now threatening food production, tourism and economic expansion.
Dickerson notes that, by reducing the particles that promote haze, the new rules could deliver an additional health benefit in the 100 U.S. counties that regularly violate smog standards.
The cities of eastern China are regularly wreathed in smog, so for pastoral scenery and fresh air, many Chinese head south-west.
Now, I'm not living in an area where there's regularly a ton of smog pollution, but for some reason the old apartment I'm living in is chronically dusty, which is generally annoying.
New Delhi, a landlocked, fast-growing metropolis of more than 16 million people, is regularly shrouded by haze and smog (sometimes euphemistically referred to as fog) in winter months, as barometric pressure and cooler air mix with construction dust, smoke from cow dung fires and car exhaust, which then hover over the city for days.
