Harbin, capital city of Heilongjiang province in China's northeastern industrial heartland, is planning to further reduce its coal consumption to curb pollution.

According to a recently released coal consumption control plan of the city, Harbin plans to cut its coal consumption by 1.6 million tons by 2020 and another 2.6 million tons by 2021.

The city will continue to promote the use of clean energy including natural gas, electricity, geothermal, biomass and solar energy and give corresponding subsidies.

Harbin has long relied heavily on coal for power generation and heating.

To tackle pollution, local authorities are investing more in clean energy to replace coal-fired power plants and are transmitting more electricity generated by clean energy to other regions.