Professor Liu Yong from Beijing University of Chemical Technology shows the smog particles on used masks through an electron microscope on Jan 3, 2017. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

It comes as no surprise that the severe smog has dominated discussions in China's social media platforms.

It may be unfair to deny what the government has done in shutting down polluting factories, reducing vehicles on the street and encouraging the updating of pollution control equipment in polluting industries.

But no matter how much importance the government says it has attached to pollution control, no matter how many efforts may have actually been made in this regard, the heaviest smog that has extended for the longest time and covered the largest number of cities in years flies in the face of the country's fight against environmental pollution.

Heavy smog has shrouded more than 70 cities with 32 issuing red alerts for serious air pollution since the turn of the year. There is no reason not to take those alerts as warnings that greater efforts should be made when it comes to pollution control.

It is high time the top environmental watchdogs organized concerted investigations to find out where the toxic smog originates. They also need to find out how many polluting factories have kept their pollution control equipment unused for the sake of lowering production costs and how many factories with polluting facilities that should have been shut down are still in operation.

It is also urgent the central government find out how many local governments still place economic growth at the top of their work agenda rather than paying due attention to the sustainability of their economic development and social progress and the health of residents.

Air quality has been an important index for the assessment of local government leaders' performance since 2013 when the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued measures to emphasize pollution control in such assessments. However, very few local government leaders have received even a disciplinary punishment for doing a bad job in this regard.

The increasingly serious air pollution points to the fact that we still have a long way to go before local governments make the needed down-to-earth efforts to tackle pollution. And although the power of the environmental protection departments has been increased, it has not been enough: They need to be given the necessary teeth to bite.

The serious air pollution during the first week of the year throughout a large part of the country will hopefully serve as a wake-up call for the central authorities to exert more pressure on local governments to tackle air pollution.