A Beijing official blamed cooking for pushing up levels of PM 2.5, or fine particulate matter, which sparked public debates, people.com.cn said.

Zhao Huimin, director of Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, in an interview. [Photo: screenshots from TV program]

Zhao Huimin, director of Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, said in an interview Tuesday that in a large city, cooking contributes to the high levels of PM 2.5, and citizens should do their part to help curb air pollution in Beijing.

Zhao also said Beijing is intensifying efforts to prepare for the 2014 APEC economic leaders meeting, which is set to be held at Yanqi Lake, 50 kilometers northeast of downtown Beijing.

Some netizens refuted Zhao, saying that the city is looking for another scapegoat for air pollution, after vehicles "are just eliminated as a suspect."

One netizen made fun of Zhao.s comments and suggested the city adopt a cooker-buying lottery system and regulate alternate cooking days according to people's ID numbers.

Wang Yuesi, from Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Science, also put the blame for Beijing.s summer pollution on cooking, which accounts for 15 to 20 percent of pollution sources.