Making China's Skies Blue Again

In his 2017 Report on the Work of the Government, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to “make our skies blue again.” He specified that “this year, we will see that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions are both cut by 3 percent and that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) density in key areas falls markedly.”

To this end, he demanded efforts to address pollution caused by coal burning, a full range of measures to improve the sources of pollution, strict control over exhaust fumes from motor vehicles, effective steps to combat heavy air pollution, strict enforcement of environmental laws and regulations, and investigations to identify violators and hold them accountable.

The report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed involving everyone in improving the environment and addressing environmental issues at the root, and continuing the campaign to prevent and control air pollution and make the skies blue again.

In July 2018, the State Council promulgated a three-year action plan, outlining goals, tasks and measures. The goal is to drop the discharge of main air pollutants by a big margin, cut the emission of greenhouse gases, lower the PM2.5 density, reduce the number of days with heavy pollution, and notably improve air quality by 2020. Compared with 2015, there will be a 15-percent drop in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions and an 18-percent drop in annual PM2.5 density in the cities at and above prefecture level that failed to meet the relevant standards in 2015. The residents of these cities will breathe fresh air on 80 percent of the days of the year, and the number of days with heavy pollution and worse conditions will drop by 25 percent.

藍天保衛戰

李克強總理在2017年政府工作報告中，明確提出了“堅決打好藍天保衛戰”的要求，提出了“2017年二氧化硫、氮氧化物排放量要分別下降3%，重點地區細顆粒物(PM2.5)濃度明顯下降”的具體目標。為此，報告還提出了五方面舉措：一要加快解決燃煤污染問題；二要全面推進污染源治理；三要強化機動車尾氣治理；四要有效應對重污染天氣；五要嚴格環境執法和督查問責。中共十九大報告進一步強調，堅持全民共治、源頭防治，持續實施大氣污染防治行動，打贏藍天保衛戰。2018年7月，國務院印發《打贏藍天保衛戰三年行動計劃》，明確了大氣污染防治工作的總體思路、基本目標、主要任務和保障措施，提出了打贏藍天保衛戰的時間表和路線圖。即，經過3年努力，大幅減少主要大氣污染物排放總量，協同減少溫室氣體排放，進一步明顯降低細顆粒物（PM2.5）濃度，明顯減少重污染天數，明顯改善環境空氣質量，明顯增強人民的藍天幸福感。到2020年，二氧化硫、氮氧化物排放總量分別比2015年下降15%以上；PM2.5未達標地級及以上城市濃度比2015年下降18%以上，地級及以上城市空氣質量優良天數比率達到80%，重度及以上污染天數比率比2015年下降25%以上。