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.

中國環(huán)境保護部門日前稱，各地城市在空氣污染最為嚴重的時期應該取消上課、削減工作時間并且禁止戶外活動。

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

在霧霾最嚴重的時期，必須采取“一切可能的必要措施”來削減排放量，包括暫停工廠生產和實行交通管制。

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.

中國環(huán)保部門在公告里發(fā)布了這些指導方針，而此時中國的大城市正在與令人窒息的持續(xù)霧霾天氣作斗爭——這也是多年經濟飛速發(fā)展的后果，這樣的現狀讓公眾們感到憤怒。

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.

據官方媒體近日報道，在沿海的江蘇省，一個住在臨近繁忙街道的八歲女孩被診斷出患有肺癌，這個女孩據說是中國最年輕的肺癌患者。這件事已經引發(fā)輿論嘩然。

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.

盡管近年來減輕污染的呼聲不斷，公眾的情緒也日漸憤怒，污染問題還是變得更糟糕了。除非在最嚴重的霧霾天氣，學校和公司都一如既往地運作，即使空氣污染已經到了危險水平。

重度霧霾

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.

上個月，東北的哈爾濱市在一次霧霾危機中宣布中小學[微博]停課，機場和一些公交線路也停運。

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.

中國環(huán)保部門稱，還必須加強工業(yè)反污染措施，并且減輕對煤炭的依賴性。煤炭生產供應了中國超過四分之三的電力。

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.

環(huán)保部門還表示，公安部門也應該加強對車輛的檢查，包括逐步淘汰老舊車輛，確保道路上不會有過度擁擠的車輛。

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.

中國在九月份表示，將削減煤炭消費并關閉污染環(huán)境的造紙廠、工廠和冶煉廠。但專家們表示，落實有關措施將是很有難度的。

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

因為長期的天然氣資源短缺，今年冬天天氣污染預計會進一步惡化。