2015年CRI Heavy and Chemical Industries Main Contributors to Smog in North China

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Chen Guoqi at the Ministry¹ of Environmental Protection is in charge of air quality monitoring in north China.

He said the industrial layout of the region is problematic and the adjustment process is slow.

"So severe problems have emerged in north China. For example, steel-making factories conquer Hebei's Tangshan and Handan, while coal mines are everywhere in Shanxi's Jinzhong and Yangquan, Inner Mongolia's Wuhai, and Henan's Pingdingshan."

Apart from Beijing and Tianjin, coal-burning accounts for 90 percent of energy consumption in north China, much higher than the national average.

Chen Guoqi said bulk coal burning is another contributor to the poor air quality.

"About 22.2 percent bulk coal burnt in Beijing is below national quality standards; in Tianjin the figure is 26.7 percent; in Tangshan, Cangzhou, Langfang and Baoding, as much as 37.5 percent of the bulk coal is of low quality."

Ahead of the latest severe air pollution forecast to hit China, the Ministry of Environmental Protection sent 14 inspection² teams to different parts of the country.

They checked the implementation³ of emergency measures taken by local governments in response to the heavy air pollution.

Chen pointed⁴ out many local governments are not aware of the importance of environmental protection facilities and the implementation of related regulations is very poor.

"The Hebei provincial⁵ government has worked out some measures to reduce coal-burning and steel production, but there are too many empty words in the document and we don't think these measures are feasible. Zhengzhou city issued 14 plans on air pollution control, but there is no one in charge of the implementation. And the air pollution control project by Nanyang government is also impractical⁶."

Experts urged local governments to set a deadline for the emission⁷ cut by 50 percent in an attempt to get air quality in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to acceptable levels by 2030.

Beijing has issued its second red alert for air pollution this month. The red alert, the most serious level, will last from 7 a.m. Saturday to the end of Tuesday, limiting vehicles on roads according to their odd-even license⁸ plate numbers and banning fireworks and outdoor barbecue.

For CRI, I'm Qian Shanming.