Anti-pollution Measures Take Effect

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) recently revealed the government has put more than 60 billion yuan (US$9.2B) into fighting air pollution since the new Action Plan against Air Pollution took effect in September 2013.

Thanks to the huge input, China, according to the MEP, has reached its preliminary objective set out in the Action Plan. Specifically, the average concentration of PM10 (inhalable particles with a diameter less than 10 micrometers) in major cities dropped by 22.7 percent in 2017 compared to that in 2013.

PM2.5 (inhalable particles with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) concentration in the Beijing-tianjin-hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, where air pollution has been designated a key issue for the government to deal with, dropped by 39.6 percent, 34.3 percent and 27.7 percent in the same period.

Lowered coal consumption is a leading contributor to the air quality improvement. Over the past five years, China's coal consumption fell from 67.5 percent of total primary energy consumption to 60 percent, with more than 200,000 inefficient heating furnaces shut down. The MEP has also eliminated around 20 million polluting vehicles and raised emission standards since January 1, 2017.

There are 1,436 stations to monitor air quality nationwide. The MEP pledged to keep tightening pollution controls and concentrate more efforts on tackling the spread of long-distance pollution and cross-regional pollution.