Chongqing, the leading industrial center and metropolis in Southwest China, has got rid of the label of China's "city of fog" thanks to the "Clean Energy Project" conducted with Britain's help.

Statistics from the Municipal Meteorological Department show there have been only 30 polluted air days recorded so far this year, 70 percent less than last year.

Sulfur dioxide in the air declined by half in the third quarter of the year compared with the same period last year. The city's air quality was evaluated "fairly good" this year, instead of last year's "slightly polluted".

Li, an old woman, who has suffered from chronic pharyngitis for years, said she felt better this year, and her husband, an asthmatic, had few attacks this year as a result of a big reduction in atmospheric pollution.

Wang Yang, a traffic police officer in the downtown area, said, "We used to be busy on foggy days with traffic accidents caused by the fog. It was common to increase the number of traffic police at crossroads during rush hours. Clearer weather has made it possible for two to cope with rush hour traffic.

As a coastal city enveloped by mountains, Chongqing was in fog most of the year. Environmental experts attributed the heavy fog to the slow evaporation of mists rising from the Yangtze River and the soot and dust discharged by local factories.

When the fog was dense, the morning was as dark as the evening and lights had to be turned on.

The municipal government analyzed the cause of the pollution and sought help from British environmental experts because the situation in Chongqing was similar to that of London which has reduced its fog dramatically.

In 1991, after scientific investigations, Chongqing launched a "Clean Energy Project" which had proved to be efficient in London.

The city converted 2,646 coal-fueled boilers into gas-fueled devices. These measures, which cost 380 million yuan (US$46 billion), cut the city 's coal consumption by 1.36 million tons a year and reduced the amount of soot discharged by industrial firms by 35,000 tons.

The 40 heavy pollutant makers were required to install desulfuration and dust-removing devices on boilers to lessen the level of pollutants in the air.

Nearly 100,000 motor vehicles have been equipped with purification devices to bring the tail-gas emissions within the state required standard. Any automobile that failed to meet the standard was banned from streets.

However, low-income earners could not understand a clear sky was more important than their bonus. Workers of the Huacheng No. 1 Cotton Mill were upset when they heard that the increased spending on clean fuel might swallow their bonus.

Their suspicion was alleviated, when they found that the fuel transformation scheme had reduced the number of workers from 30 to eight and brought the factory extra income by the selling of land used for storing raw coal and coal ashes.

Chongqing's efforts in fog removal have won acclaim from the United Nations.

At a UN-sponsored environmental symposium held recently in Japan, the representative of Chongqing was invited to outline the city's experience as the only a good example of pollution control in the Asia-Pacific area.

A UN official said Chongqing has made substantial contributions to the progress of environmental protection around the world.

( December 23, 2001)