Northern Chinese cities fail to meet winter smog targets
- Survey of 39 cities finds that 30 failed to reach their target for curbing dangerous PM2.5 particles in six months to the end of March
- Despite years of effort, figures heighten concerns that country’s ‘war on pollution’ is faltering
A majority of 39 northern Chinese cities have failed to meet anti-pollution targets over the six-months to the end of March, according to a Reuters study of official data, adding to fears the war on smog has lost momentum.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared a “war on pollution” in 2014 and the government has spent billions of yuan to bolster monitoring and enforcement, raised industrial standards and shut thousands of small “backward” enterprises.
But Reuters calculations based on online monitoring data show 30 out of 39 cities in the key northern pollution control zones of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Fenwei Plain failed to meet air quality targets over the autumn-winter period, despite imposing special restrictions.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, but it has already warned that momentum had slowed as a result of a slowing economy in some regions.
The cities were under pressure to cut concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 by around 3 per cent year on year, with some targeted to make bigger reductions.
Official data shows big improvements in air quality in March, with average PM2.5 readings falling 29 per cent to an average of 52 micrograms per cubic metre in the 39 cities.