China's capital was shrouded by air pollution nearly half of 2015 during which Beijing also issued its first-ever red alert against heavy smog that lead to closure of schools and restricted traffic.
Despite Beijing's attempts to limit air pollution, the capital saw only 186 days with air quality that met the national standard in 2015.
The city of over 22 million people was also shrouded with heavy air pollution for 46 days, or 13 per cent of the year, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said.
The annual average concentration of PM2.5, the smallest and deadliest form of airborne particulate matter in the capital was 80.6 micrograms per cubic meter, 1.3 times higher than the national standard, despite a 6.2 per cent year-on-year decrease.
The average densities of other pollutants also fell compared with 2014 figures.
Sulfur dioxide density dropped 38.1 per cent, that of nitrogen dioxide dropped 11.8 per cent, and that of PM10 dropped 12.3 per cent, state-run Global Times reported today.
Beijing city issued its first-ever red alert for smog on December 6 during which schools were closed and traffic was restricted with odd and even numbers.
The second red alert was issued on December 23 as Beijing along with several other cities were shrouded in thick smog.
Noting the severity of air pollution in Beijing and its neighbouring provinces, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli called for natural gas and electricity to replace coal, China Central Television reported.
A total of 206 local regulations hindering environmental supervision and environmental authorities' enforcement efforts had been abolished as of October, following the central government's release of a related circular at the end of 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
A one-month environmental protection inspection of North China's Hebei province began yesterday at the behest of central authorities, who are ready to embrace tips about pollution violations from the public, the ministry said.
The provincial government of East China's Shandong province recently issued a notice saying that local governments will be fined 400,000 yuan (USD 61,200) for each microgram of pollutants per cubic meter in excess of the national air quality standard.
In contrast, a bonus of the same amount will be issued to local governments for each microgram below the standard, the TV report said.
