The national environmental watchdog has declared that boosting efforts to cut air pollution in northern China, especially winter smog from the burning of coal, is a mission for this year.

国家环保总局近日宣布，将努力减少中国北方的空气污染，特别是要减少冬季燃烧煤炭产生的烟雾，是今年的主要任务。

Beijing has declared that it will wipe out coal use in its most rural areas by 2020.

北京市近日宣布，到2020年，北京大部分农村地区将实现"无煤化"。

As much as "60 percent of smog content is caused by coal burning in the starting phase of each smog", said Fang¹ Li, an official with Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau.

北京市环保局官员方力表示，百分之60的烟雾是在燃烧煤炭的开始阶段产生的。

To start with, Beijing will replace coal-fired heating stoves with those powered by electricity or gas in 400 villages this year, before taking the campaign to the districts of Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai and Shijingshan by 2017, said Guo Zihua, a municipal rural development official.

新农办村镇建设处官员郭子华表示，第一步，在2016年，全市400个村庄的燃煤采暖炉将替换成电采暖或燃气采暖装置。2017年，朝阳、海淀、丰台、石景山区也都将推广这一行动。

Beijing's downtown districts of Dongcheng and Xicheng eliminated coal burning last year, officials said.

官方报道，去年北京市核心区(东城、西城)已经实现"无煤化"。

The capital and other places in northern China experienced several smog alerts in November and December, when peak readings were many times higher than the national safety level.

首都北京和其他北方地区在11月和12月经受了数次的雾霾侵袭，峰值数据是国家限定指数的很多倍。

Burning coal for winter heating has been listed as one of the primary causes of air pollution, Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, said on Monday at the annual meeting on environmental protection in Beijing.

环保部部长陈吉宁周一在于北京召开的年度环境保护工作会议上表示，冬季燃煤取暖已被列为空气污染的主要原因之一。