(Yicai Global) Oct. 27 -- The city of Luoyang in central Henan province will order industrial enterprises to limit or halt production during autumn and winter in a bid to cut down on atmospheric pollution, local official news outlet Luoyang Daily reported.

Luoyang City Environmental Pollution Prevention and Treatment Leading Group has distributed a document outlining the change, which requires iron and steel companies, excluding cold rolling steel firms, to halve production from Nov. 15 this year to March 15, 2018.

Cement, ceramics and plasterboard production firms will be forced to stop production entirely during the period, alongside companies making medicine, pesticides and veterinary drugs which use organic solvents and discharge volatile organic compounds during their production processes.

Firms that use highly polluting fuels, such as coal, and those that make refractory materials but don't meet current pollutant discharge requirements will also need to cease production.

Production of goods necessary for daily life should be approved by Henan provincial government, the document added.

As winter approaches, northern China is once again facing a rise in pollution. A number of local governments are putting measures in place to limit production at polluting firms during the heating season in an attempt to reduce smog.