Chinese factories and coal-fired power stations could soon face further rolling shutdowns, as the government battles to get a hold on the smog crisis that has gripped the capital Beijing.

The government had hoped that rain and snow would disperse the smog that has blanketed the city since last weekend, but an index monitoring of PM2.5 particulates revealed that it still stood at 400 in some parts of the city - down on last week’s record score of 755, but still well above levels deemed hazardous to human health.

Officials responded last week by ordering some factories to close down and advising people to avoid outdoor activity, but now state media Xinhua has reported that the city government is preparing to unveil wide-ranging new rules that would allow it to extend measures for tackling air pollution.

The move is expected to formalise the existing ad hoc actions that have seen factories shut, power stations switch from burning coal and polluting vehicles banned from being used on smog days.

The news agency also ran a report last week arguing that China can learn from London’s response to its “Great Smog” of the 1950s, which led to the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968 and, according to Xinhua, “gave local authorities powers to control emissions of dark smoke, grit, dust and fumes from industrial premises and furnaces and to declare smoke control areas in which emissions of smoke from domestic properties were banned”.

The Chinese government is understood to be increasingly concerned about the air pollution crisis, which has sparked protests from the public and led to rare critical articles detailing how Party officials make use of expensive air purifiers.

Any new regulations to tackle emissions in the city, which according to new figures released last week is now home to 20 million people, will be welcomed by green groups.

However, the increasing frequency of rolling shutdowns of industrial facilities could have a knock-on impact on many companies’ supply chains.