Buildings are shrouded in smog in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 16, 2020. Thick haze engulfed South Korea's capital city Seoul as well as its surrounding areas on Monday. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

China and South Korea will continue to enhance cooperation on tackling air pollution this winter and confronting climate change, according to the Chinese environmental authority.

China would like to strengthen exchange and cooperation on air pollution with neighboring countries including South Korea, in order to promote the improvement of the regional environment quality, Liu Youbin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Monday at a press conference.

Earlier this month, the environment ministers of China and South Korea decided to strengthen cooperation on preventing and managing air pollution in the autumn and winter seasons, as well as in biodiversity and climate change issues, according to Liu.

He noted that China and South Korea have been working closely on environmental issues. The two countries signed their first agreement on the environment in 1993 and more detailed ones in recent years.

Liu said at the press conference that North China has been hit by air pollution six times this autumn and winter, including two severe periods of air pollution. However, the average intensity of the pollutants saw an 8.2 percent drop compared with last year.

According to a 2019 joint report by experts from China, South Korea and Japan, China and Japan contributed 91 percent and 55.4 percent of their own pollution, and an average of 51.2 percent of ultrafine dust in South Korea comes from domestic factors.