Effective March 1, 2014, Beijing will no longer be approving proposals for new constructions of industrial plants, including oil refining, steel, cement and thermal power plants. Proposals for improvements of existing ones will likewise be barred.

Aside from the ban, China's capital will likewise gradually reduce the total discharge of major air pollutants. In a document published on its official Web site (www.bjrd.gov.cn) on Wednesday, the Beijing government said it will strictly implement yearly quotas that district and county governments as well as individual polluters need to adhere. It will also strive to slash coal burning and car emissions.

China's menacing air pollution, according to a study published in the journal BMJ, has staved off an equivalent of 16 years from the lives of its residents.

Just last week, Wang Anshun, mayor of Beijing, said the capital government will spend HK$970 billion to alleviate the smog pollution groping the city. In September 2013, Mr Wang committed to slash the levels of PM2.5, particulate matters smaller than 2.5 microns enveloping Beijing, by 25 per cent by the year 2017.

Beijing will strive to cut total emissions of PM 2.5 by 5 per cent in 2014, the policy document pointed out.

Firms, plants or establishments that do not install emissions technology, or meet tough pollution standards would be slapped with fines of up to 500,000 yuan ($82,600). Their emission permit allocations would also be cancelled for the following year.

According to the study published in the journal BMJ, pollutants circling China's atmosphere hurt more its female population as well as the young people.

"The regulation came just in time to meet the urgent need of Beijing to tackle its serious air pollution, which is not just a quality-of-life issue, but also an economic and political problem," Min Qingwen, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a city legislator, was quoted by People's Daily Online.