Dense smog still covers much of north and east China, with dangerously high levels of air pollution. For days now, PM2.5 levels in most of Beijing have been above 400 micrograms per cubic meter. The city government says it has launched an emergency response plan to reduce the pollution. A factory in Beijing has suspended production.

TOTO Beijing is the only big ceramics factory in the capital city. One of its production procedures creates dust pollution. With air pollution escalating in the last several days, the city government has told the factory to cut production, and now stop altogether.

Deputy General Manager of TOTO Beijing, Han Yong, said, "On Monday afternoon, we received a notice from the municipal government to cut our production by 15 percent. On Tuesday morning the government issued a stricter notice. All of our production lines were fully suspended by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The noise you are hearing now is just the ventilation."

This is one of the key joint ventures in Beijing, and ceasing production means big losses.

Han Yong said, "Stopping our two plants in Beijing means we lose 1.8 million yuan per day. We still have to pay wages during this period."

TOTO Beijing is only one of a hundred and three high-polluting factories that have completely stopped production since Tuesday. The authorities say they are cutting the use of government vehicles in all departments by 30 percent.

Deputy Director of Haidian District Environmental Protection Bureau, Xing Likai, said, "We are working closely with other authorities to ensure the emergency plans are carried out during this period."

However, once the smog gets lighter and the alert is lifted, these factories will be back in production again. And they may need to intensify production to make up for their losses. So the problem has not really been solved. Many believe the government will have to do more to cut sources of pollution, because temporary responses are not enough.

There have been no more than five days with clear sky in Beijing throughout the whole January. Air quality issues have raised public concern and caused all kinds of damages.

As China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang said earlier this month, China needs to strengthen its enforcement of environmental laws and find more solutions to tackle air pollution.