China's central government called for local governments to ensure traffic safety as thick fog continues to plague major parts of the country, according to a circular released on Friday by the General Office of the State Council.

The circular called for related organizations to cooperate in the work of weather monitoring and to take effective measures to prevent casualties and financial loss.

Many parts of central and eastern China have suffered heavy fog for more than five days since this autumn, posing great danger to air, road and water traffic, the circular said.

Most of the central and eastern parts of the country would continue to suffer foggy weather and road visibility in some areas would be less than 100 meters, according to the Central Meteorological Observatory.

Recently, heavy fog forced six expressways to close in central China's Hubei Province. In the northern Tianjin Municipality, one expressway was closed due to road visibility of less than 100 meters. In addition, most flights were delayed in Hefei City in the eastern Anhui Province.

Observatory experts said the fog was caused by a combination of high humidity and low temperatures.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2007)