Coal burning is attributed as one of the main causes of air pollution in the country. (Photo : Reuters)
In an effort to cut air pollution in northern China this year, the national environmental watchdog has announced that it will ban the burning of coal starting in most rural areas by 2020, reported China Daily.
This is just one of the initiatives the environmental protection bureau will undertake to help improve air quality in the region.
According to Fang Li, an official from Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau, as much as "60 percent of smog content is caused by coal burning in the starting phase of each smog."
Among the first steps is to replace coal-fired heating stoves with electric burners or gas-powered stoves in 400 villages in Beijing this year. After that, the campaign will move on to the districts of Haidian, Chaoyang, Fengtai and Shijingshan by 2017, according to Guo Zihua, a municipal rural development official.
Last year, Dongcheng and Xicheng, two of Beijing's downtown districts, have successfully eliminated coal burning, a practice that's most prevalent during winter.
Beijing and other parts of northern China experienced heavy smog and poor air quality in November and December, when peak readings way above the national safety level were recorded.
Coal burning was attributed as one of the main causes of air pollution, said environment minister Chen Jining on Monday at an annual meeting on environmental protection.
This peak recordings and smog alerts in November and December led to the conclusion that reducing and effectively eliminating coal burning for good will greatly help in improving air quality in northern China and the rest of the country, said Chen.
Chen added that the ministry is fully dedicated to make the endeavor succeed for the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20). The minister of environmental protection also called for raised awareness regarding the transfer of pollution from China's industrial eastern region to the central and western regions.
