Farmers' Daily, farmer.com.cn: 

"Building beautiful villages" is a crucial part of creating a "Beautiful China." How does the action plan ensure sustained air quality improvement in rural areas? Thank you.

Liu Bingjiang:

Thank you for your question. Air quality improvement efforts are applied equally across all areas. However, several issues in rural areas warrant extra attention, such as pollution spreading to rural areas. We've mandated strict project approval processes to prevent this spread of pollution. We require consistent environmental impact assessments for new projects in key air-polluting industries within 20 kilometers of provincial borders. We're also addressing several specific issues in rural areas.

First, let's consider the example of rural coal use, where significant progress has been made. This has directly addressed indoor air pollution for rural residents, ending the era of smoke-filled homes. Previously, both outdoor and indoor pollution were major concerns, with indoor PM2.5 levels often exceeding 200 micrograms per cubic meter when coal was used for cooking. Thanks to effective coal control measures, this issue has been largely resolved. However, outdoor pollution persists in certain areas, particularly in rural farming, animal husbandry and agricultural product processing, where coal is still widely used. Activities like tobacco curing, mushroom cultivation and grain processing often involve burning coal directly without emissions controls. To address this, we've mandated comprehensive measures to curb these polluting practices. Successful examples already exist, such as Henan's "coal-to-electricity" project for tobacco curing, which has improved product quality while effectively eliminating direct pollution emissions. Moving forward, we'll prioritize replacing coal, small boilers and small kilns with electricity where feasible in rural farming, animal husbandry and agricultural processing.

Second, for the first time, we are focusing on reducing atmospheric ammonia emissions from rural animal husbandry. While sulfates, nitrates, primary particulate matter and VOCs are well-established sources of PM2.5, ammonium salts have emerged as a significant concern. These salts stem from ammonia released during nitrogen fertilizer application and emissions from livestock farming. The action plan introduces measures to adjust feed composition and optimize nitrogen fertilizer use. It targets a 5% reduction in atmospheric ammonia emissions from large-scale livestock and poultry farms in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas. Environmental and agricultural departments are also developing policies and launching pilot programs to address this issue effectively.

Third, the widespread use of high-emission farm equipment during planting and harvest seasons poses a significant challenge. These machines often fail to meet emission standards and lack pollution controls, representing a weakness in our pollution management efforts. Additionally, rural pollution also includes other issues, such as straw burning. While pollution transport is a concern, rural production and lifestyle practices also contribute to inherent air quality issues. We hope everyone will join forces to effectively address these challenges, ensuring rural areas live up to their envisioned image of fresh air and picturesque landscapes. Thank you.

Xie Yingjun:

Today's policy briefing concludes here. Thank you, Mr. Liu, and thanks to all media representatives.

Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Wang Qian, Zhu Bochen, Zhang Rui, Wang Ziteng, Yuan Fang, Liu Caiyi, Zhou Jing, Yang Xi, Ma Yujia, Xu Kailin, Huang Shan, Liu Jianing, Liu Sitong, Yang Chuanli, Li Huiru, Qin Qi, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Rochelle Beiersdorfer. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.