At the end of November, 663 villages in Beijing had replaced coal with clean energy, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs said.

Among them, 574 replaced coal with electricity and 89 with natural gas.

Commission official Li Wenchao said the reduction would contribute a lot to controlling air pollution in the city, cutting about 3,400 tonnes of sulfur dioxide and 3,100 tonnes of nitric oxide emissions this year.

Beijing plans to replace coal with cleaner energy in 700 villages next year.

Coal burning will be phased out in Chaoyang, Daxing, Fangshan, Fengtai, Haidian, Shijingshan and Tongzhou districts in 2017.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2016)