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A general view of the Forbidden City when pollution in Beijing reached "hazardous" level. Photo: EPA

Beijing considers permanent odd-even ban on vehicles after success of 'Apec blue'

Beijing will discuss the feasibility of permanently banning vehicles from the roads on alternating days based on their number plates, after a relatively successful test drive.

The Beijing municipal government will discuss the feasibility of permanently banning vehicles from the roads on alternating days based on their number plates, after a relatively successful test drive earlier this month.

The Chinese capital earlier this month concluded a 10-day ban restricting roughly half of private vehicles from the roads during the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting.

The ban, which restricted cars on alternate days based on whether the last digit of their number plates are odd or even, had helped to effectively ease traffic and bring down air pollution.

“The public has voiced various positive feedbacks on the prohibitions of vehicles from the roads on alternative days, proposing it to become a norm, including on weekends,” said Beijing Executive Vice-Mayor Li Shixiang, according to the official party newspaper .

The government would hold panels to discuss the proposal, according to Li, who was speaking at the Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Regional Economic Development Forum.

But he said the decision was not yet final. “We cannot respond without studying or discussing” the proposal, he was quoted as saying.

Air pollution levels in Beijing during the Apec event - which drew leaders such as US President Barack Obama, Russia's Vladimir Putin, -Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and others - experienced a dramatic drop, leading the public to dub the clear skies as “APEC blue”.

Tourists visit near the National Stadium on a hazy day in Beijing. Photo: Reuters
Beijing enjoyed "excellent" or "good" air quality - an air-quality index (AQI) reading of below 100 - for all but two of the first 12 days of this month, in sharp contrast to smog-ridden October, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

President Xi Jinping told Apec leaders: "I hope and believe that Apec blue can be preserved through our unremitting efforts."

But the weather deteriorated sharply as Beijing lifted the bans after the Apec convention. The city has been blanketed by varying degrees of smog for nine out of the past 14 days since the summit ended.

Environmental authorities on Tuesday night issued a yellow air pollution alert, which means there is heavy to severe pollution between one to three days.

The capital's official average AQI stood at 292 at 5pm Wednesday - the second most serious on a six-level scale.

The reading released by the US embassy reached 380, or the worst "hazardous" level.

Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau broadcast the smog is expected to ease on Thursday and Friday before worsening again on Saturday.

At the forum, Li attributed the fight against air pollution on a collective effort by authorities of regions surrounding Beijing. He vowed to continue the battle, with the aim of extending “APEC blue”.

But opponents of the idea argued that restricting private cars is not the sole factor that contributed improved air quality.

In fact, more than 4,000 factories in Beijing’s surrounding Hebei province were ordered to close temporarily, with about half of coal-fired power generators shut down, the earlier reported.

Beijing began to impose the odd-even vehicle ban during the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in 2008 when the city restricted private cars from driving on the road on alternating days for two months.

After that, Beijing imposed a rule that one-fifth of the city’s private vehicles would continue to be barred from the roads on weekdays, according to the last number on their licence plates. The rule has been in force since.

The Beijing government is devoting 800 billion yuan (HK$1.01 trillion) in a five-year plan unveiled a last year to grapple with air pollution. Its measures include cutting down coal use, restricting vehicles on the road and reducing factory emissions.

Beijing has witnessed a rapid growth in the number of vehicles over the past decades. The city currently tops the nation with nearly 5.4 million vehicles, both public and privately owned. The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said they produced 31.1 per cent of all fine particle PM2.5, the source of smog that poses serious health problems to people.

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