Seven cities in northern China's Shanxi Province, including Xinzhou, Jinzhong, Datong and Linfen, have each been awarded 2 million yuan (US$286,000), by the provincial government for improvement of air quality.

Starting in 2008, 11 key cities in Shanxi Province will receive generous rewards if they show significant improvement in environmental protection evaluation, Xinhua news agency reports.

Any city that manages to stay off the country's list of top five most polluted cities will be rewarded 1 million yuan and the ones that can stay off the list for top 10 will receive 2 million yuan.

Yangquan City was rewarded 1 million yuan for the improvement of its environment in 2007.

Liu Xiangdong, director of the provincial environmental protection bureau, says the environment in Shanxi Province has improved a lot, especially in the key cities, which are coming off China's most polluted city list and have reached the target set in the 11th Five-Year Plan.

(CRIENGLISH.com April 16, 2008)