As heavy smog continues to blanket most of China's northern and central regions, Shanxi province, North China's coal hub, has pledged to restore and protect the natural environment through reforestation programs and cleaner technologies.

Zhu Xiaoming, director of the province's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, announced the planned improvements during a panel discussion on Monday.

"Coal modernization is the key way to transform our coal industry. Coal-to-liquid fuel has a much higher efficiency than oil, and the particulate matter from the combustion of this fuel is 80 percent less than that from the combustion of oil. This has very great significance in easing the heavy smog hovering over China," he said.