What Delhi is living through right now, is the same situation that China’s Beijing has experienced in the past. But it appears the country has taken some concrete steps to get cleaner air though the results are not immediately visible.

Exposure to excessive PM 2.5 in the four major cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an and Beijing resulted in about 8,572 premature deaths and economic losses of $1.08 bn in the year 2012, according to a joint study by Greenpeace East Asia and Peking University’s School of Public Health.

The battle to improve Beijing’s air quality began in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics when China had no choice but to take drastic steps as the issue of severe pollution levels was in the international spotlight and it concerned the health of athletes.

Since then China took several measures to clean the air especially in cities like Beijing which was worse affected by toxic smog, especially during winter. One of the biggest reforms was the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution implemented in September 2013. Under the plan, China planned to reduce PM 2.5 levels in the air by over 10% from 2012 to 2017.

For Beijing, the target set was to reduce PM 2.5 levels by around 30% to 60 μg/m3 in 2017 from 89.5 μg/m3 in 2013. By 2016 it reduced to 73 μg/m3. The annual average set by WHO of PM 2.5 level stands at 35 μg/m3.

PM 2.5 are particulate matter upto the size of 2.5 micrometers found in the air. These particles can easily enter the lungs and blood stream through inhalation increasing the risks of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancer