(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- The first action plan on energy development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has officially issued to ease air pollution.

The reduction in coal consumption in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is the focus of this action plan, which prescribes that total coal use in the region be limited to 300 million tons by 2020, Beijing's development and reform commission told Yicai Global.

The plain area of Beijing should be "coal-free" by 2020. Coal burning is banned in Tianjin for heating except for the use of anthracite in mountain areas, and the use of coal for heating in rural areas of Hebei province is also prescribed.

The plan also outlines detailed implementation and coordinating measures.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area is one of the major economic development regions in China, but also the most polluted area in China, with air quality long below the national average.

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection has plans to set up an inter-regional environmental protection agency, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Atmosphere and Environmental Protection Bureau, to establish a unified environmental monitoring and enforcement mechanism and to tighten air pollution control in the region. The agency is expected to form by the end of this year, domestic media reported.