China will begin blacklisting cities that fail to reach the national air quality standard, a senior official of the country's environmental agency said in Beijing.

"The list will be announced regularly to warn cities of deteriorating air quality," said Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), at an international symposium on improving regional air quality.

He said that as a penalty, SEPA will issue risk warnings to investors who consider investing in the cities that have been blacklisted for several consecutive years.

Meanwhile, SEPA will strictly control construction in such cities of any projects that could add new air pollution, he said.

Official statistics indicate that one-third of Chinese cities are experiencing severe air pollution.