PROUD of Shenzhen’s clear blue sky, many residents have posted pictures and praise on their WeChat Moments in recent weeks. The satisfactory air quality is a result of the city’s determination and efforts to control air pollution this year, the Nanfang Daily reported.
The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stressed the continued control of air pollution and creation of a better ecological environment in the country.
The Shenzhen government also pledged to uphold the principle of sustainable development, resulting in more efforts to fight against air pollution in the first six months of this year, according to the report.
Based on the latest public data released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Shenzhen’s air quality ranked fifth among 169 cities nationwide for the first half of 2018.
Meanwhile, the average concentration rates of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, PM10, PM2.5 and ozone recorded over the first six months were 7, 29, 46, 27.7 and 91 micrograms per cubic meter, respectively. In particular, the average concentration rate of PM2.5 decreased by 0.1 micrograms per cubic meter.
Multiple measures have been taken to bring back blue skies. The municipal government rolled out an action plan in April to further upgrade the city’s air quality. A total of 125 detailed plans have been mapped out to achieve the goal.
On June 6, an air quality monitoring system covering all subdistricts was put into use, making Shenzhen the first city in the country to have air quality monitors covering all subdistrict areas.
Under the requirement of the provincial government, Shenzhen also carried out special operations this spring to reduce air pollutants produced at construction sites.
In addition, the city has also implemented several measures to reduce pollution from power plants, production lines, boats and other industrial devices, and has seen positive progress.
“Preventing air pollution and upgrading air quality is a long-term and challenging mission,” said a person in charge at the city’s environment commission. One of the city’s specific goals this year is to bring the concentration of PM2.5 down to 26 micrograms per cubic meter.
All environment-related departments are going to carry out the action plan for blue skies by controlling pollutants produced by major industrial work and projects.
According to the report, Shenzhen’s long-term goal is to reduce the yearly PM2.5 concentration rate to 25 micrograms per cubic meter, in order to meet the standard set by the World Health Organization.