(Yicai Global) Feb. 6 -- Beijing plans to extend its anti-smog campaign by shutting down another 500 local contaminators as it pulls away from lists of the world's most polluted regions.

The Chinese capital has shut down 1,992 polluters over the past five years, including 651 in 2017, local newspaper Beijing Daily cited the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology as saying.

The city ranked among the 10 most polluted in the world in 2013, according to data collected by Tsinghua University and the Asian Development Bank. Most regions across China have been battling hard to crack down on smog with the capital leading the way. It ranked 56th among the world's most polluted cities by PM2.5, per data collected between 2008 and 2015 by the World Health Organisation.

PM2.5 is particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers.

Beijing's biggest problem is its Daxing district, a 29-square-kilometer region home to 1,173 enterprises. It had cleared out 1,007 polluters as of the end of last year, but the nine million trucks that drive along its roads every year mean exhaust emissions there are six times higher than in other districts in the municipality.

Daxing plans to clear out many of the logistics companies based in the district and tear down homes to reduce the number of trucks on its streets. It will use the 12-square-kilometers of freed-up land for new businesses, shopping areas, recreation and tourism, with green areas occupying more than half of that land.

The district has built 35 parks over the past five years, reducing the average PM2.5 concentration from 108 to 61, the biggest drop across Beijing.