Hebei province will set limits on the amount of allowed industrial air pollution and spend 291 million yuan ($47.7 million) to build a real-time digital monitoring system in the coming year.

The system will target the four major heavy-polluting industries - iron, cement, electricity and glass - in a move that accelerates the province's campaign to improve air quality.

Hebei's industries are cited as a major contributor to smoggy days in North China, including Beijing, which the province virtually surrounds.