China’s northern cities will be ordered to cut emissions of dangerous PM2.5 particles by an average of 4% this winter, according to a document issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on Wednesday 16 Oct’19.
The target for average concentration of PM2.5 – lung-damaging particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns – applies to a group of 26 smog-prone cities in the north and the two municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin. This target of the average concentration of PM2.5, came in higher than the 3% cut for last winter, but lower than the 5.5% cut proposed in an earlier draft.
The MEE’s anti-pollution plan for this winter also raised the reduction target for the number of days of heavy pollution to a 6% rate, up from a 3% cut last winter.
The plan comes as China enters its sixth year of an aggressive clampdown on pollution in a bid to cut smog that envelops many cities during the winter months, when homes and businesses crank up heating.
As part of China’s efforts to put an end to what it calls “one-size-fits-all” anti-pollution measures, cities that performed well in last year’s campaign received preferential treatment. For instance, Beijing is not required to make any cut from the previous year’s PM2.5 levels, while Tianjin is only required to cut PM2.5 by 1%. But cities that did not meet last year’s directive had much higher targets, confirming the ministry’s warning last month.
Anyang in Henan province must cut PM2.5 levels by 6.5%, according to the document. Handan and Xingtai in Hebei province, Zhenghzou, Puyang and Kaifeng in Henan and Heze in Shandong province must all cut levels of the particulate matter by 6%.
Among the mandatory targets listed for local regions, Hebei province is required to close 14 million tonnes of steel capacities, 3 million tonnes of coke, one million tonnes of cement as well as 6.6 million weight boxes of flat glass capacities. Due to El Nino effect, weather conditions this year require stronger measures to offset the negative impacts, as the year 2020 is crucial for China to win the battle for blue skies, the plan stressed.
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