BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory said Saturday that a cold front will sweep across north and east China over the next few days.

From Saturday to Monday, the cold front will cause temperatures to drop 6 to 8 degrees Celsius in a vast part of the country's northern and eastern regions, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

In some areas of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Shanxi, temperatures will drop up to 12 degrees Celsius, it added.

The cold front will help disperse the smog in areas including Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces from Saturday to Sunday, the center said.