Xingtai, a coal-mining hub home to 7.6 million people, has the worst air quality of any Chinese city. Last year, it only had 38 days when air quality met national standards. It’s the heaviest polluter in the dirtiest city in China. Jizhong Energy Resources Co. operates six large coal mines and dozens of related facilities in this gray industrial center, which government data show has the worst air quality of any Chinese town. Five of the facilities are on a national list of top air polluters, and eight are on the Xingtai government’s list, more than any other company here. Now, Jizhong is moving to clean itself up, reflecting the balancing act taking place across China as regional governments and businesses try to tackle runaway pollution without wrecking local economies. The government is under rising pressure from China’s rapidly emerging middle class to address the country’s degraded air, […]