SHIJIAZHUANG, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hebei Province, which neighbors Beijing and is known for its steel industry and severe smog, saw its average PM2.5 density drop 14 percent in 2018, 9 percentage points higher than its annual target.

Xu Qin, governor of the province, made the announcement Monday when delivering a government work report at the opening of the local legislative session.

PM2.5 is a measure of the density of hazardous particulate in the air.

Xu said the province cut production capacity of steel by 12.3 million tonnes, coal by 14 million tonnes and cement by 3.13 million tonnes in 2018, contributing to the improved air.

Nearly 17,000 plants were closed or upgraded for pollution reasons over the past year, and the coal-fired heaters of 1.8 million households were replaced with clean energy facilities, he said.

Xu said the province would continue to battle smog, including by continuing to cut steel capacity, vowing to lower the average density of PM2.5 by more than 5 percent in 2019.