BEIJING (Reuters) - China has set new targets for its provinces to
reduce air pollution by 5 to 25 percent, state media said late on
Tuesday, underscoring the government's concern about a source of
public anger.
China regularly issues directives to try to tackle air pollution in
major cities, but these have had limited effect.
Former health minister Chen Zhu said air pollution in the country
causes premature deaths of 350,000 to 500,000 people yearly, state
media reported on Tuesday. Chen wrote the article in a December
issue of the Lancet medical journal.
Air quality in large parts of northern and southern China reached
unhealthy levels on Tuesday.
Under the new regulations, Beijing, its neighbouring city of
Tianjin and northern Hebei province will have to cut the amount of
PM 2.5 particles, which are especially bad for health, by 25
percent annually, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the
ministry of environmental protection.
China's commercial capital, Shanghai, the eastern provinces of
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and northern Shanxi will have to impose
cuts of 20 percent. Reductions of 15 percent were set for Guangdong
and Chongqing and 10 percent for the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region, Xinhua said.
The State Council, or cabinet, is mulling a system to evaluate each
local government's progress and those who fail to reach goals will
be "named and shamed", said the China Daily newspaper.
Air quality in cities is of increasing concern to China's
stability-obsessed leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a
more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs
economic model that has poisoned much of the country's air, water
and soil.
Authorities have invested in various projects to fight pollution
and empowered courts to mete out the death penalty in serious
cases.
But enforcement of rules has been patchy at the local level, where
authorities often rely on taxes paid by polluting industries.
(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Ron Popeski)
Source from: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-sets-targets-curbing-air-pollution-041224616--finance.html