Officials from the seven municipalities and provinces near Beijing will be held accountable if more than three consecutive heavily polluted days occur in the coming winter as a result of their poor performance in prevention, said Ding Xiangyang, deputy-secretary-general of the State Council, on Tuesday.

Ding said the possibility of pollution grows gradually as winter approaches, especially in northern China, where a large amount of inferior coal is burned during the heating season, polluting the atmosphere.

Ding was speaking at a regional meeting held in Beijing.