SHIJIAZHUANG - Hebei, a pollution-plagued province in north China, has punished officials after a city under its jurisdiction failed to meet its annual air pollution control target.

Five county-level officials in Handan City were removed from their posts after the air quality worsened in the city in 2017, according to a statement issued by the provincial government Friday.

Gao Heping, vice mayor of Handan, was criticized and given an oral warning for bearing major leadership responsibility over the matter, said the statement.

Ten other officials received intra-Party warnings, it said.

Average PM2.5 density in 2017 in Handan was 86 micrograms per cubic meter of air, 4.9 percent higher than the levels in 2016.