Smog war casualty - China coal city bears brunt of pollution crackdown

People walk on a pedestrian bridge as heavy smog blankets China's capital after the city issued its first air pollution alert for the winter season, in Beijing, China November 26, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

JINCHENG, China (Reuters) - Residents in the rugged, overmined city of Jincheng in northern China's coal heartland have been breathing a little easier after campaigns to reduce pollution forced dozens of collieries and chemical plants to close.

"Everything was covered in dust, and it's cleaner now," said Zhang Haibin, a 44-year-old farmer living in a largely abandoned hamlet on the edge of a defunct coal deposit that once attracted migrant workers from across the country.