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Wednesday, June 20, 2018, 23:58
China to implement three-year action plan for cleaner air
By Xinhua
Wednesday, June 20, 2018, 23:58 By Xinhua

People wearing facemasks ride their bikes on a polluted day in Beijing on April 2, 2018. China will begin to implement a three-year action plan for cleaner air later this year, an environmental official said June 19, 2018,(FRED DUFOUR / AFP)

BEIJING - China will begin to implement a three-year action plan for cleaner air later this year, an environmental official said Wednesday.

The plan is to improve air quality and satisfy people, said Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of ecology and environment, at a press briefing.

By 2020, emissions of sulfur dioxide and ammonia oxides should drop at least 15 percent from 2015 levels, while cities with low air quality standards should see their density of PM 2.5, a key indicator of air pollution, fall at least 18 percent, according to the plan.

READ MORE: Pollution curbs set to make skies clearer

Cities at prefecture level and above should see the number of good-air days reach 80 percent annually and the percentage of heavily polluted days decrease by 25 percent or more from 2015 levels.

To achieve these goals, authorities will optimize the industrial structure, promote clean energy, develop green transport, and strengthen regional coordination, Zhao said.

Efforts will be focused on areas including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surroundings, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Fenhe and Weihe river plains. Economic, legal, technological, and administrative means will be adopted.

China accomplished all the major tasks of its five-year clean air action plan in 2017, but challenges remain. A large number of cities still need to further improve air quality.  

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