China’s environmental inspectors named and shamed more cities on Sunday for poor air quality control as the fight against smog continues.

Inspections of 18 cities in north China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region and nearby areas used unannounced checks at night and undercover methods, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said.

Handan city of Hebei Province continues to illegally operate coal-fired boilers though officials had ordered them closed. After the inspections, the boilers were dismantled and a police investigation opened.

In Cangzhou, also in Hebei, an oil pipe maker, a major source of emissions, was not included in the list of companies to halt production on heavily polluted days.

A cement producer in Beijing used more electricity than usual in December, when it should have suspended production. Two other cement firms were wrongly exempted from production suspensions.

On Friday, the MEP criticized several cities in Hebei, Shanxi and Henan for not doing enough in curbing the use of “scattered coal,” coal burned by households or small factories for heating and is much more dirty than that used by thermal plants, which have the equipment to reduce emissions.

China is intensifying efforts to fight pollution and environmental degradation after decades of growth left the country saddled with problems such as smog and contaminated soil.

A total of 720 people were detained and 6,454 held accountable in China for environment-related wrongdoing in 2016, according to earlier official information.

Chinese cities suffered from more days of air pollution in January, with northern areas being the worst affected.

The share of days with good air quality in BTH were a mere 36.2 percent in January, a year-on-year drop of 19.6 percentage points.

Jinggangshan, the heartland of the early revolutionary activities of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in east China’s Jiangxi Province, announced Sunday that it has been officially taken off the list of impoverished areas.

Jinggangshan was home to the CPC’s first rural revolutionary base established in 1927. Today, people who live under the poverty line account for 1.6 percent of the total population, lower than the national standard of 2 percent, according to the city government.

The local government contributed the precision poverty relief campaign, which is in full swing across the country. Precision means that money should be spent exactly where it is needed, and no more than is needed.

Jinggangshan helped people start businesses or find jobs, while provided a safety net for those who were unable. In addition, it also helped poor people move into quality homes and improved infrastructure in rural areas.

The Chinese government has decided to eradicate poverty by 2020, the target year for China to become a “moderately prosperous” society.

At least 10 people were killed in a hotel fire Saturday morning in Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, firefighters said.

The fire, which broke out around 8 a.m. in the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in Honggutan New District, was put out around 9:40 a.m. More than 10 construction workers were working on the second floor at the time.

Firefighters found seven bodies in debris, and three of the 16 hospitalized died despite medical efforts.

The four-story hotel is connected to a 24-story apartment building where over 260 residents were evacuated.

Seven people in connection with the case have been taken into police custody.

Initial investigations found the fire was caused by cutting of decoration materials, and further investigation is under way.

China’s resort island province of Hainan aimed to achieve growth of over 7 percent this year, after a 7.5-percent expansion in 2016, as its legislative session closed Friday.

Like Hainan, 20 other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities lowered or maintained their growth targets this year, indicating the basic tone of “seeking progress while maintaining stability” as set by the central economic work conference in December.

To date, all provincial-level regions have concluded their annual meetings for local lawmakers and political advisors.

The new measures in reform, opening up and structural adjustment announced at local sessions have raised high expectations for the annual sessions of China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, in March.

The two meetings are among the most important political events in China,second only to the 19th National Congress of Communist Party of China (CPC) later this year, at which a new leadership of the Party will be elected.

The people’s congress system, the country’s political basis, has been in place for over six decades at the national, provincial, prefectural, county and township levels.

The NPC has nearly 3,000 deputies from provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and the People’s Liberation Army. Its annual session deliberates and approves the economic and social development plan among other major policies, laws and regulations.

The new economic growth target to be announced at the opening meeting of the legislative session on March 5 will be of note.

China’s economy has been continuing its slowdown trend. It reported 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016, the lowest level in nearly three decades, but likely to top all other major economies. China aims to achieve average annual growth of more than 6.5 percent over the 2016 to 2020 period.

A framework of “new normal” is being introduced to inject new vitality into the economy and ensure more balanced growth.

The provincial growth targets in 2017 will leave room for governments to push on with transformation and supply-side structural reform, including slashing overcapacity in sectors like coal and steel. All these are critical for China to achieve a sustained and healthy economic growth.

Coal-rich Shanxi and central Henan both aim to cut 20 million tonnes of coal capacity this year, after each slashed 23 million tonnes last year.

Hebei, which neighbors Beijing and produces a quarter of the country’s iron and steel, aims to further slash 32 million tonnes of steel capacity this year, after a similar level of reduction in 2016.

“This year will be our toughest for capacity reduction. No matter how difficult it is, we are determined to succeed,” said Hebei Governor Zhang Qingwei.

Environmental protection is another key item on the agenda, with new pollution treatment targets and measures included in local government work plans.

Beijing, a frequent victim of smog, aims to cut its PM2.5 density by 18 percent to 60 micrograms per cubic meter of air this year, at a planned cost of 18 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars).

China’s opening-up is expected to gain new momentum this year, as the provinces and municipalities with free trade zones (FTZs) push forward and refine the FTZ system.

There will also be more projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Commodity and service centers will be set up in Shanghai this year to boost trade with countries along the Belt and Road. The city signed construction contracts worth 8.9 billion dollars with countries along the ancient trade route last year, up 66 percent year on year.

Moreover, southwestern Sichuan Province plans to double the frequency of cargo trains bound for Europe to 1,000 this year. Foreign investment into the inland province hit 8.5 billion dollars in 2016, featuring projects from 17 of the world’s top 500 companies.

“China is opening wider to the outside world and it is paying off with win-win results for all those involved,” said Xu Yaotong, a professor from the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Reviving the real economy was a hot topic at the local sessions of provincial lawmakers.

Zhejiang Vice Governor Feng Fei said the province would help lower the costs for companies this year so that more resources can be distributed to the real economy.

Poverty alleviation remains a pressing task. Southwestern Yunnan Province will bring 1 million of the 3.5 million poor people above the poverty line in 2017.

To achieve “Xiaokang,” or a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, by 2020, this year China will help another 10 million people out of over 45.7 million get rid of poverty.

New government heads of at least 11 provincial-level regions, including Beijing and Shanghai, were elected at the local sessions. These regions’ combined GDP exceeds that of Germany.

Notably, local two sessions also stressed the “four consciousnesses” — the ideology, the whole, the core and the line.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, was endorsed as the core leader at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in late October.

“It is natural to stress the concept. The centralized and unified leadership is gaining consensus,” said Dai Yanjun, of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Three famous Chinese tourist spots were warned by the industry regulator Saturday for deteriorating quality.

The Old Town of Lijiang in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province was required by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) to improve management within six months.

As a 5A-level national tourist attraction, or the top level, the Old Town of Lijiang was subject to rising complaints and poor security, the CNTA pointed out after inspecting 5A-licensed tourism spots.

China has recently delisted three 5A tourist attractions and warned 19 others, while 20 attractions were added to the 5A category.

China has a tourism-rating classification system which rates a tourist attraction from one A to 5A for its overall tourism quality.