He was accompanied by Beijing's Party Secretary Guo Jinlong.
Northern and central parts of China, including Beijing, have been suffering a pollution crisis for the past several days, with the smog alert for those areas being elevated from “yellow” to “orange.”
Other affected areas include Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi and Liaoning.
Large Chinese cities are often plagued by heavy smog and air pollution mainly caused by coal-burning by power stations and industry, and emissions from motor vehicles.
In mid-February, China's State Council (Cabinet) announced plans to create a 10 billion yuan (approximately $1.6 billion) fund this year as part of efforts to clean up the environment.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com