"Widespread misreporting of harmful gas emissions by Chinese electricity firms is threatening the country's attempts to rein in pollution, with government policies aimed at generating cleaner power struggling to halt the practice.

Coal-fired power accounts for three-quarters of China's total generation capacity and is a major source of the toxic smog that shrouded much of the country's north last month, prompting "red alerts" in dozens of cities, including the capital Beijing.

But the government has found it hard to impose a tougher anti-pollution regime on the power sector, with China's energy administration describing it as a "weak link" in efforts to tackle smog caused by gases such as sulfur dioxide."

David Stanway and Kathy Chen report for Reuters January 17, 2016. [2]