China has set deadlines for economically-developed Yangtze River and Pearl River delta areas to retrofit their coal-fired power plants to reduce pollutants emission as part of the ongoing efforts to combat air pollution in the world’s second biggest economy.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> Coal-fired generation units in the city clusters of the Yangtze River Delta, totaling 86.75 GW, should be equipped with desulfurization, denitrification and dust removal facilities, by July 1 next year, according to a document released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) on November 25.<br /> <br /> While, coal-fired generation units in the Pearl River Delta region with a total capacity of 39.15 GW should be equipped with these facilities by the same deadline, the MEP said in a separate document released on the same day.<br /> <br /> Newly-built units in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces should control emission concentration of smoke, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide no more than 10 mg, 35 mg and 50 mg per cubic meter, respectively.<br /> <br /> Moreover, by 2020, operating units in these provinces, including public units with capacity of 300,000 KW or above and self-equipped units with 100,000 KW or above should also meet these standards.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, according to the MEP, newly-built coal-fired units in southeastern Guangdong, Hainan, central Hunan, Jiangxi and southern Guangxi provinces should control emission concentration of smoke, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide no more than 10 mg, 35 mg and 50 mg per cubic meter, respectively.<br /> <br /> Besides, operating units in these provinces, including public units with capacity of 300,000 KW or above and private units with 100,000 KW or above should reach these standards by 2020.<br /> <br /> <p> The government will strictly monitor atmospheric pollution in heavily-polluting industries, including power, steel, cement and plate glass, in the two areas, the MEP said.&nbsp; </p> <p style="text-align:center;"> <img src="/upfiles/news/image/20141203/20141203153051_3204.jpg" alt="" /> </p>