Vehicles, coal-burning, airborne dust and industrial production account for 85 to 90 percent of the major airborne pollution sources in most Chinese cities, new research shows.

Wu Xiaoqing, vice-minister of environmental protection, said at a conference in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on Wednesday that scientists have analyzed sources of atmospheric particulates in nine cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

Vehicles are the biggest polluters in Beijing, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, while coal-burning emits most particulates in Shijia-zhuang, Hebei province, and Nanjing, Jiangsu province.