Pollution Control

An action plan for air pollution control was released on October 16, setting specific targets to improve air quality in the Beijing-tianjin-hebei region and nearby areas during autumn and winter.

The number of days with severe pollution should fall by 6 percent from October 1 to March 31, according to the plan released by several government agencies including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Development and Reform Commission.

The average density of PM2.5 should drop by 4 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the plan.

It also sets a deadline to close down some outdated production facilities and suspend some highly polluted industry capacities in Tianjin as well as Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces by the end of the year.

Local authorities and enterprises in those regions are expected to draft a plan by the end of October, setting a clear target and timeline to improve production quality and enhance pollutant emission standards to meet pollution control standards.

According to the plan, pollutant discharging licenses for construction material and furniture enterprises should be released by December.

Steel manufacturers in Hebei are required to achieve an extra-low emissions transformation of 100 million tons by the end of the year, while the target in Shanxi over the same time frame is 15 million tons.

The plan also requires these cities and provinces to conduct further environmental assessments on big factories and logistics companies during October.