The sun sets beside the chimney of a coal-fired power station in Beijing on January 9, 2008. Image source: Reuters
China’s goal is to effectively eliminate severe air pollution by the end of 2025 as authorities step up efforts to reduce pollution control and reduce emissions in the “Blue Sky War”, a senior environmental official said.
China will improve its air quality forecasting and early warning systems and enhance coordinated management of harmful airborne particles, called PM2.5, and ozone pollution.
“The struggle of the blue sky remains the same,” Lee said on Monday’s transcript on the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s website.
Despite some progress, air pollution remains a major problem and affects the economy and people’s quality of life, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The WHO said air pollution kills about 2 million people in China every year. Among these deaths, ambient air pollution caused more than one million deaths, while household air pollution caused by contaminated fuel and technology cooking resulted in another one million deaths.
The WHO believes that PM2.5 concentrations are above 50 micrograms per cubic meter “severe” air pollution.
Li said China’s air quality has improved significantly in 2024. The average concentration of PM2.5 in cities was 29.3 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%.
The number of days with good air quality reached 87.2%, an increase of 1.7 percentage points year-on-year.
Li said China must introduce new emission standards to align with global best practices, adding that the country will increase the share of new energy vehicles and machinery in airports, ports and logistics parks.
Authorities also plan to promote long-distance transport of bulk goods through railways and water, rather than roads.
President Xi Jinping said that China prioritizes environmental protection and promotes a green lifestyle, and nature protection is an important part of the establishment of a modern socialist country.
publishing – February 25, 2025 at 12:06 pm IST
