Passing grade for capital’s air

The Chinese capital Beijing met state air quality standards for the first time last year, officials said yesterday, following a concerted effort to cut coal consumption, reduce transportation emissions and relocate heavy industry.

China declared war on pollution in 2014 after a series of hazardous smog build-ups in Beijing and elsewhere triggered widespread public anger.

Average readings of small, hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 reached 33 microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/m³) in Beijing over the whole of last year, down 13% compared to a year earlier and meeting China’s interim standard of 35μg/m³ for the first time on record, officials said during a briefing yesterday.

The annual average of 33μg/m³ remains much higher than the recommended World Health Organization level of 5μg/m³.

Yu Jianhua, deputy head of Beijing’s environmental protection bureau, described the city’s efforts over the last decade, as well as the speed of its improvements, as “unprecedented”.

“All regions and all departments worked together and organised the whole society to achieve comprehensive improvements in Beijing’s air quality,” he said.

Beijing residents enjoyed nearly four months more of clear skies last year compared to 2013, he added.

Beijing promised in 2015 that it would use its staging of the Winter Olympics in 2022 to help drive improvements in its environment, with Chinese President Xi Jinping vowing to host a “green” Games.

As a measure of the progress made, in 2016 average PM2.5 readings stood at 71μg/m³, but frequently approached 500μg/m³ during winter, when coaldominated heating systems were switched on throughout the region. Beijing have since made efforts to switch to cleaner natural gas.