Beijing Municipality and its district- and county-level governments will no longer approve the construction of any projects that do not meet established pollution and energy consumption requirements. This is one of measures in the tenth phase of the capital city’s program to control air pollution. The target is to attain air quality level two or better on at least 62 percent of the days in a year.

The Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau are developing related pollution control policies.

Existing enterprises and companies have been told to establish and implement programs to clean up their operations. Particulate matter and sulfur dioxide emissions must be substantially reduced through structural adjustment, clean production techniques and pollution control equipment.

A top official from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau says that the goals of the 10th phase of the air pollution control program are to be reached by reducing emissions, strengthening environmental protection and development in suburban areas, improving related standards and policies, and mobilizing citizens to participate in solving environmental problems.

The Beijing Municipal Construction Commission will ensure that dust and sand pollution from construction sites is reduced, while the Beijing Municipal Landscaping Bureau plans to plant or revamp 1,000 hectares of urban green areas. It will also landscape the bare land beside the roads inside Fifth Ring Road this year. The city transportation department will replace 500 old buses with new ones.

The Beijing municipal government will consider air pollution control program as an important component of performance when evaluating groups and cadres. Leaders of work units that fail to meet standards or perform their required functions properly will be held responsible and disciplined if appropriate.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, April 12, 2004)