Chinese cities should close schools, cut working hours and stop outdoor activities during the most severe spells of air pollution, the ministry of environmental protection has said.

中国环境保护部门日前称，各地城市在空气污染最为严重的时期应该取消上课、削减工作时间并且禁止户外活动。

"Every possible compulsory measure" must be taken to cut emissions during the heaviest smog – including suspending factory production and imposing traffic restrictions.

在雾霾最严重的时期，必须采取“一切可能的必要措施”来削减排放量，包括暂停工厂生产和实行交通管制。

The ministry's guidelines, issued in a circular, come as China grapples with frequent choking smog in its big cities, a consequence of years of breakneck economic growth that has fuelled public anger.

中国环保部门在公告里发布了这些指导方针，而此时中国的大城市正在与令人窒息的持续雾霾天气作斗争——这也是多年经济飞速发展的后果，这样的现状让公众们感到愤怒。

State media recently reported that an eight-year-old girl who lived near a busy thoroughfare in the coastal province of Jiangsu had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The case of the girl, believed to be the country's youngest lung cancer patient, has sparked a public outcry.

据官方媒体近日报道，在沿海的江苏省，一个住在临近繁忙街道的八岁女孩被诊断出患有肺癌，这个女孩据说是中国最年轻的肺癌患者。这件事已经引发舆论哗然。

Despite frequent calls for cutting pollution over recent years, and growing public anger, the problem has only got worse. Schools and workplaces typically operate as normal in all but the most severe smog, even when it reaches hazardous levels.

尽管近年来减轻污染的呼声不断，公众的情绪也日渐愤怒，污染问题还是变得更糟糕了。除非在最严重的雾霾天气，学校和公司都一如既往地运作，即使空气污染已经到了危险水平。

Primary and middle schools suspended classes last month in the north-east city of Harbin during a smog emergency. The airport and some bus routes were also closed.

上个月，东北的哈尔滨市在一次雾霾危机中宣布中小学停课，机场和一些公交线路也停运。

China must also toughen anti-pollution measures on industry and reduce its dependence on coal, which produces more than three-quarters of the country's electricity, the environment ministry said.

中国环保部门称，还必须加强工业反污染措施，并且减轻对煤炭的依赖性。煤炭生产供应了中国超过四分之三的电力。

Public security departments should also toughen checks on vehicles, including phasing out older ones, and ensure there are not too many on the roads, it said.

环保部门还表示，公安部门也应该加强对车辆的检查，包括逐步淘汰老旧车辆，确保道路上不会有过度拥挤的车辆。

China said in September it would slash coal consumption and shut down polluting mills, factories and smelters, though experts have said implementing the measures would prove difficult.

中国在九月份表示，将削减煤炭消费并关闭污染环境的造纸厂、工厂和冶炼厂。但导师们表示，落实有关措施将是很有难度的。

Air pollution is expected to worsen this winter because of a chronic natural gas shortage.

因为长期的天然气资源短缺，今年冬天天气污染预计会进一步恶化。