Capital ordered to clear the air for NPC and CPPCC meetings
Clear air needed for meetings of legislators and advisers, leadership says
The central leadership has ordered the capital to get rid of smog in time for annual meetings next month of the legislature and top political advisory body.
The environmental watchdog listed Beijing 9th among the 10 most polluted cities last month.
The city was blanketed by heavy smog on 26 days in January and saw air pollution readings reach record levels. Readings of PM2.5 - tiny particles that can be inhaled - were more than 40 times the maximum level recommended by the World Health Organisation at one stage.
The level of pollution in Beijing is deemed so bad that the central government has been pressuring the municipal government to ensure the smog will not return during the meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference next month, an environmental source says.
Deputy Environmental Protection Minister Wu Xiaoqing told staff at Beijing's two air quality monitoring stations recently to tackle the problem, which he blamed on extreme meteorological conditions, the China Environmental News, the ministry's official newspaper, reported yesterday.