AFP/Getty Images A worker moves coal briquettes onto a pedicab at a coal distribution business in Huaibei, Anhui province on January 30, 2013. Environmental concerns—particularly over the use of coal—have been pushed to the top of the national agenda after much of the country was covered with a blanket of pollution earlier this year. Beijing is Trapped in its Polluted Neighborhood August 9, 2013 By Zhang Chun, Assistant Editor in chinadialogue’s Beijing office. This article was first published by chinadialogue. In 2011, approximately 9,900 premature deaths in China are estimated to have been due to pollution. The Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released a pollution ranking of seventy-four cities over the first three months of the year. Of the ten most polluted, seven are in Hebei, with the provincial capital Shijiazhuang top of the list.