Beijing and its neighboring provincial regions will temporarily enforce air pollution control measures starting next week to guarantee "Parade Blue" during the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
An air pollution control working group for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas submitted the air quality control plan Monday.
Zhang Gong, vice mayor of Beijing as well as the director of the working group, said the seven provincial regions, including Tianjin, Hebei and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, will strengthen their air quality control measures from August 28 to September 4 and reduce emissions of major air pollutants by at least 30 percent, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Beijing will cut its emissions by at least 40 percent, Zhang said.
Many netizens have expressed their expectations for a clear sky - dubbed as "Parade Blue" - during the parade period, after Beijing saw "APEC Blue" during the APEC summit last November.
Coal-fired power plants in these regions have been ordered to either suspend operations or reduce work to cut emissions. Nearly 10,000 factories will be affected under the pollution control measures and work on some 9,000 construction sites will be suspended, according to Xinhua.
Beijing will also enforce an odd-even license plate control system to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
"The PM2.5 level in Beijing is likely to drop by 25 percent to 39 percent from the same period last year if measures to curb air pollution are faithfully implemented," Hao Jiming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
The
Ministry of Environmental Protection (MOE) will send 15 supervisory groups to monitor the emission control measures, said Xinhua.
MOE data showed Beijing's air quality worsened in July and was in the list of the 10 worst cities for the first time.
Newspaper headline: Beijing, other areas to implement anti-smog plan for ‘Parade Blue’