CRNTT:
In recent years, the air quality in China has been significantly improved, especially in the past two years. Still, heavily polluted weather and skies are still likely in autumn and winter. My question is for Mr. Li. What's your comment in regard to the progress China has made in preventing and controlling air pollution? In addition, you mentioned earlier this year that China's air quality is "dependent on the weather," what measures should be taken in the future to get rid of such a situation?
Li Ganjie:
Thank you for your question. I believe that you were probably present at the press conferences of the Two Session this March when I noted that China's air quality is "dependent on the weather." As the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have always placed great importance to it, air pollution has become the priority in "combating critical battles of pollution prevention." It should be said that a marked achievement has been made.
Here are some statistics for your reference. Take PM2.5, an issue of great public concern, for example. In 2013, China introduced the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. Only six years later in 2018, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 41.7% in the first 74 key cities which carried out PM2.5 monitoring. This figure in Beijing is even more striking, down by 43%. In the past two or three years, the PM2.5 concentration in Beijing saw a double-digit-percent decline every year. For example, the figure in 2017 fell by 20.5% year-on-year; and in 2018, it was down by another 12.1%. The figure this year is still promising as PM2.5 concentration from Jan. to Aug. decreased by 14.3% compared with the same period last year. Thus, everyone feels that the air quality in Beijing has improved, which matches our statistics. This also shows that our work on prevention and control is indeed effective.
Another topic is sulfur dioxide emission. Previously, the sulfur dioxide concentration in China was rather high. This led to a relatively large area becoming affected by acid rain. In the past six years, the sulfur dioxide concentration in cities above the prefectural level dropped from 35 μg per cubic meter in 2013 to 14 μg per cubic meter in 2018, down by 60%. Basically, the areas experiencing heavily polluted weather, as well as its frequency and severity have been significantly decreased.
All of the achievements above should be attributed to the following works.
First, we continuously improved the top-level planning and governance structure. In 2013, China introduced the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. Five years later in 2018, a Three-year Action Plan for Keeping Our Skies Blue was formulated and published. A leading group in air pollution prevention and control for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and nearby area was established; and a coordinating mechanism for air pollution prevention and control in the Fen-Wei Plains and Yangtze Delta was established.
Second, we have stepped up the effort to adjust "four structures (i.e. industrial structure, energy consumption structure, structure of transport, and land structure)." The adjustment of the "four structures" is of great importance in the prevention and control of air pollution. In recent years, great changes have taken place in these four fields. For example, in terms of industrial structure, the proportion of transformed thermal power with ultra-low emission reached more than 80%, meanwhile that of iron and steel also made progress to a certain extent. In the past, China's coal consumption was always high. In 2011 and 2012 the figure reached around 70%, while that of last year decreased to 59%, which is not an easy feat. The proportion of non-fossil fuel consumption increased to 14.3%. In addition, in terms of the structure of transport, we have managed to scrap 24 million outdated vehicles as well as the yellow-labelled ones (high-emission vehicles). This has greatly reduced the air pollution.
Third, we have continued to build capacities, and strengthen scientific and technical support. In recent years, we established a nationwide network to monitor China's air quality. A total 1,436 sites have been set up, which effectively monitors air quality in cities above the prefecture level with accurate statistics. In addition, we established the National Center for Air Pollution Prevention and Control, which plays an important role in identifying pollution sources and their major spread patterns.
Fourth, we are working to strengthen the supervision of law enforcement, and public engagement. We have been successful in strengthening supervision work along with implementing normalized supervision work. In 2017, 38,900 environmental problems concerning air pollution were found and solved through the strengthening of supervision work. The figure last year was 52,000. The rectification rate of these problems is very high, and stands at over 99%. As for the work this year, our plan remains the same, and the results so far are still very promising. At the same time, we also actively encourage public engagement. We've found that almost half of the pollution problems handled by us are reported by ordinary people. As we receive information from various sources, our efficiency has also been raised.
As you just said, we have achieved some accomplishments over the years, but the situation is still not optimistic. We are still at a stage where the climate, weather and meteorological conditions have a great impact on the air quality. And the discharge of pollutants remains high. Experts from National Center for Air Pollution Prevention and Control have estimated how much meteorological factors can affect PM2.5 concentrations. Within a year, PM2.5 concentrations in cities may rise or fall by 10% depending on various meteorological conditions. The figure may rise to 15% in some isolated cases, and even reach over 30% if measured monthly.
Therefore, we must fully implement the Three-Year Action Plan for Keeping Our Skies Blue.
Tian Yuhong:
The last question.
