Beijing to oblige polluters to pay for correction

BEIJING - Beijing will require businesses that consistently fail to meet pollution standards to pay for environmental service companies to clean up their act, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Zhang Guohong, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, said the rule is going to be applied to polluters ordered to cut or suspend production in two consecutive years by the city's law enforcers.

Those firms will be obliged to pay professionals to improve their existing emissions treatments facilities or build new ones, with Zhang noting that this will help the market for third-party pollution control institutions.

Beijing does not have enough companies providing services at an affordable price, a situation that will be eased by more market-oriented and legal measures, he said.

Heavy smog has shrouded the national capital for five days.