Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, has the country's most serious air pollution. Several cities in the province have consistently been listed as the most smoggy places in China in the past year. The province says it will take action this year. To discuss that, we're joined by my colleague, Zhong Shi.
Q1. Zhong Shi, let's start with Hebei's current situation. The appalling air quality hasn't been helped by fireworks over the Spring Festival.
A1. You're right Mangmang. If you've been to Hebei over the Chinese new year, this is most likely what you have seen...even smoggier days than usual with air quality plummeting to the warning level of "serious pollution."
And, as you say, that was made even worse by fireworks. And at Lantern Festival over the weekend, which marked the end of Chinese new year celebrations, air quality reached a new low in the province, with four of its cities listed as "seriously polluted."
With a population of over 12 million people, the provincial capital Shijiazhuang was the worst polluted city in the whole Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region on that day. Meteorologists say air quality in the region should improve now that the festival is over. But it will be a massive task to clean up China's most polluted province. Mangmang?
Q2. We've just watched a report on the closure of some of Hebei's cement factories. What else is the province doing this year?
A2. The shutdown of cement companies on Monday is the first step this year. 18 others were closed at the end of last year. For Hebei, a crucial task this year is still to cut emissions. There’s supposed to be a fall in production in three industries: steel, cement and glass. The plan is to reduce production in these sectors considerably by 2017.
That's supposed to lead to a 25 percent cut in airborne particles in Hebei by 2017. On a national level, the central government will allocate 10 billion yuan this year to fight air pollution in key regions. BUT, the money will NOT be given as a subsidy to those regions. Instead, it will be merit-based and only awarded to regions that complete their tasks and get visible results. It is hoped that this will serve as an incentive to cut air pollution. |
