Beijing issued its first major smog alert of the winter, which triggers strict measures to reduce industrial output. The falling temperatures, and the increased demand they cause, triggered an orange alert, the second-highest on China’s four-level system. The Ministry of Environmental Protection warned in a statement that heavy air pollution would envelop Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the surrounding area from Friday until Jan. 17. A list of companies in the capital affected by the orange alert numbers more than 700 enterprises.

Hebei, China's most polluted province, pledged to cut emissions by 14 percent by 2020 as part of China's overall goal of improving air quality in the region. The provincial government promised to cut fine particulate matter to an average of 57 micrograms per cubic meter by 2020, down from 65 micrograms in 2017. The province has been under heavy pressure to bring smog under control this winter, shutting factories, curbing traffic and converting coal-fired heating boilers as part of a state anti-pollution drive.

Smog warnings across northern China forced officials to order factories to reduce output, order construction sites to slow work, and enforce limits on the use of diesel-fueled vehicles. The city of Taiyuan in Shanxi province had the highest concentration of hazardous breathable particles. China has launched a major effort to clean the north’s notoriously toxic air during the winter, when smog blankets colder regions as people start to increase the use of heating. Beijing was the only city among 28 being monitored where air quality hadn’t become bad enough to trigger the order.

Delegations for the United States, Russia, and China, along with other countries, struck a deal to refrain from commercial fishing in the high Arctic seas until scientists can determine what fish are there and whether they can be sustainably harvested. The agreement will protect an area of the central Arctic Ocean for at least 16 years. Waters in the region were once frozen year-round but the area is now the earth's fastest-warming. The other parties to the legally binding agreement were Canada, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

China’s top steel-producing region Hebei province has surpassed its targeted cuts for this year in steel, coal, cement and glass, under efforts to cut air pollution and overcapacity, according to a Chinese media outlet. The local government has also cut coal capacity by 10.5 million tons and coke capacity by 8.08 million tons, during the same period. To further curb pollution during winter, Hebei will also limit steel and iron output by 50 percent in major producing cities.

GM chief executive, Mary Barra, believes that China's push toward green vehicles will need government backing to win over consumers. China is pushing hard to develop its own green car market. Car manufacturers, however, worry that targets for electric and hybrid cars may be tough to meet with government plans to roll back subsidies that have supported the market's growth. GM plans to introduce at least 10 new electric vehicles for the China market by 2020 and open a battery plant this year.

Hebei, China’s smoggiest province, said it would ensure it meets its targets to replace coal with natural gas. On its official website the local government said that it would ensure as many as 1.8 million households completed the switch to gas from coal for fuel and heating by the end of October. As part of a central government push to fight smog this winter, Hebei plans to reduce fine particulate matter by 15 percent from October 2017 to March 2018, but some major cities will be forced to make even deeper cuts.

Chinese People's Liberation Army troops were deployed to Macau to assist with the clean up efforts after Typhoon Hato. Nearby Hong Kong shut down and closed financial markets ahead of Hato, yet Macau’s authorities failed to raise a sufficiently high typhoon warning. Hong Kong’s weather observatory said there were indications another storm could hit southern China in the next few days. For the full story see http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-asia-storm-macau-idUKKCN1B5066

The North China leopard, one of the nine subspecies of leopards, has shown signs of revival in certain parts of the country in recent years, according to conservation groups. However, industrial development and infrastructure construction remain major threats to the integrity of the leopards' habitat. The species was widely found across Africa and Asia.

The North China leopard, one of the nine subspecies of leopards, has shown signs of revival in certain parts of the country in recent years, according to conservation groups. However, industrial development and infrastructure construction remain major threats to the integrity of the leopards' habitat. The species was widely found across Africa and Asia.