Beijing to film building sites in new smog control measure

BEIJING - China's capital Beijing will set up cameras at building sites across the city to monitor how much construction contributes to Beijing's notoriously polluted air, state media said.

Air quality in cities is of increasing concern to China's stability-obsessed leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has poisoned much of the country's air, water and soil.

Despite the billions of dollars spent on cleaning up the air, smog remains a major problem, especially in Beijing.

By the end of June, all building sites in the city will have to install cameras to assess how constructors' practices add to the capital's smog, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.