Pressure on China's leaders to cut pollution from coal is likely to intensify – potentially hurting Australia's exports – with new research showing Beijing's air quality will get worse with climate change.

The Chinese capital's ring of mountains to the west and north naturally traps pollution, especially in winter.

But a warming world is projected to increase the frequency of the most severe pollution events by half, according to research published on Tuesday in the Nature Climate Change journal.

The duration of events similar to the "Airpocalypse" of January 2013 – when pollution levels soared to beyond 20 times the level recommended by the World Health Organisation – will rise by 80 per cent, the study found.