A woman walks along a street during a smoggy day in Changchun, Jilin Province, Oct. 22, 2013. (Photo : Reuters)
A year after “declaring war” on pollution, China is now experiencing better air quality thanks to stricter enforcement of environmental laws, environment minister Chen Jining told the Chinese parliament on Monday.
In his speech during the bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, Chen said that readings of PM2.5--small particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs--dropped in 74 cities by 11.1 percent in 2014 and 15.2 percent from January to April this year.
Changes in air quality were particularly evident in the notoriously smoggy Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, where PM2.5 readings recorded a faster-than-average drop of 12.3 percent in 2014 and 20 percent this year, said Chen.
He attributed the rise in air quality to additional government financial support and law enforcement, new technology, and better coordination with ministries and local government agencies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.
The government set aside 9.8 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) exclusively for air pollution prevention and control in 2014, in addition to 2.5 billion in budget investment arrangements, Chen said, adding that government funds helped bring in private investment worth approximately 300 billion yuan.
Chen noted that China is set to meet the target set in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) to cut outdated capacity in steel, cement and glass sectors a year earlier than expected, and that optimization of the country's energy structure is already in motion.
Nationwide coal consumption fell by 2.9 percent in 2014, the first time in 15 years. Discharges of key pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds have been checked, while vehicle emissions have been curbed by pulling highly polluting vehicles off the road and promoting new-energy automobiles.
Chinese police have also arrested 8,500 suspects in more than 4,500 criminal cases in 2014, Chen said.
Environmental authorities transferred over 2,000 cases of suspected environmental law violations to the police, more than twice the figure for the past 10 years combined.
Nearly 3,400 companies and 3,700 construction sites were also found to have violated environment laws, and more than 3,100 workshops were closed following air quality inspections by ministry officials and drones.
Chen said that efforts will also be made to improve the government's implementation of air pollution control measures, deepen regional coordination, speed up technological research, and strengthen laws and regulations in the field in order to make polluters pay the "unaffordable price."
China implemented the Environmental Protection Law earlier this year, wherein a daily fine system was incorporated to punish offenders and motivate companies to invest in costly equipment needed to reduce pollutants.
