POLS7050 Public Administration Policy analysis paper

Name: Chan Chun Sum Brian 23466987

Topic: A study of air quality control policy in China-case study analysis of Beijing-Tianjin-

Hebei region

Introduction

In China, air quality control policy is significant as there is air pollution in different regions,

such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and others. As air pollution is serious in Beijing-

Tianjin-Hebei region, central government launched different policies to solve air quality

problems, such as industrial emission control policy, “Air Pollution Prevention and Control

Action Plan (2013–2017)” and “Enhanced measures of Air Pollution Prevention and Control

in the BTH area (2016–2017)”, which support improvement of air quality in Beijing-Tianjin-

Hebei region. Throughout this case study, it emphasized policy effectiveness towards air

quality improvement in China, which central government provided motivation to local

governments to improve air quality and protect public health. Moreover, different challenges

of air quality control policy in China argued legislation framework challenges and

unclassified responsibilities between central and local government in China. In this analysis,

it will focus on different challenges of China air quality control policy and case study of

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, also towards policy effectiveness and suggestions of air quality

control policy in China.

Challenges of air quality control policy in China

There were different policy problems and challenges in China air quality control policy. The

system of Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (PCAP) still defected and insufficient of

Total air pollutant load control (TAPLC) system stipulation, in which chemical gases such as

nitrogen oxide didn't include in the system (Feng & Liao, 2016). In fact, air quality control

policy implementation was affected by different factors, such as interference of

administration, local protectionism, environment protection awareness low and lack of public

participation (Feng & Liao, 2016). Nevertheless, there were legislation framework challenges

since Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law (APPCL) had been occupied legislation

framework of PCAP vitally, thus APPCL didn't make consideration on prevention and

control motor vehicle pollution, such as department responsibility supervision and

coordination department, declaration and registration, pollutant emission permits, collection

of emission fees for motor vehicles, and driving restrictions of high polluting vehicles.

Moreover, legal documents of PCAP legislation made internal consistency problem as it

lacked integration towards effective decision-making support on regional air quality

management, which based on reliability of regional scale modelling (Wang & Hao, 2012). Xu

(2020) also pointed out that there was uncertainty of actions and outcomes linkage as China

had enough effort for 10% SO2 reduction in 10 and 11th five years plan, however outcomes

were different (Xu, 2020). China government had low confidence on policy implementation

to induce the intend actions (Xu, 2020). There were outdated stipulations of air pollutant

emission permit system as under the section 2 of article 15 in APPCL, local governments

should have responsibility in checking and verifying total air pollutant amounts that emitted

by companies. However, tasks were responsible by China Environmental Protection Bureau

(EPBs), in which local governments rarely interfered (Feng & Liao, 2016). He, Lu, Mol &

Beckers (2012) also figured out that there was insufficient of air pollutant emission trading

system stipulation as although most of Chinese provinces issued local regulations and rules

for the system to launch pilot, APPCL didn't stipulate principles and procedures, resulted as

comprehensive problem. There was limitation in both central and local state governance

capacity on greening China (He, Lu, Mol & Beckers, 2012).

Governmental responsibilities of PCAP were unclarified as according to article 3 of APPCL,

it stated under various level, local governments were responsible on “ambient air quality
within the areas under their jurisdiction” (Feng & Liao, 2016), in which it didn't specific

stipulate the method on how local government responsible in local air quality control policy

and further evaluation on its responsibilities. Therefore, it was unclear on accountability for

legal responsibilities if air quality control can't meet 2012 standard. It was also significant to

address the challenges of air quality control policy based on local government air quality

protection desired responsibility system wasn't established (Feng & Liao, 2016). There was

no linkage to local government leaders’ performance evaluation, which those local

government officials favour economic development neglected air quality control

responsibility (Feng & Liao, 2016). It also recognized that there was low penalization on

violators as it hiddened the legislation of air quality control and prevention, in which

emission penalties were ineffective to restrict companies on air emission (Feng & Liao,

2016). It also found that insufficient economic penalties and local government supervision

mechanism, in which there was “campaign type” enforcement of environmental laws as

under the situation of expensive reduction of emission, air quality control protection always

held in campaign form. Therefore, environmental policies consisted in “command-and-

control measures”, which lacked effectiveness in policy (Gao, Yin, Ai & Huang, 2009).

Fragmented authority and budget allocation problems existed as fragmented authoritarianism

model applied in China was main problem of air quality control policy since Ministry of

Environmental Protection (MEP) concerned air and water pollution problem, its function was

to serve as a forum to make major ministries conflict reconciliation, activities coordination

and environmental regulations enforcement facilitation (Wang & Lin, 2010). Moreover, there

were limitation of seeking consensus among constituent members and insufficient of formal

mechanism to coordinate different ministries, in which strong ministries will “ignore

troublesome and potentially costly environmental measures” (Wang & Lin, 2010). For

increasing departments' budgets, each department implementers mainly focused on money

received and spent, rather than policy effectiveness and cooperation with other departments

(Xu, 2020; Jin, Andersson & Zhang, 2016).

There were four policy implementation difficulties in China, which were unprecedented

economic development in China since changes of economic structure, people concentration

majority in urban centres in the east and changes of population's lifestyle were reasons that

difficult to handle and multiply mitigate (He, Lu, Mol & Beckers, 2012), also dominance to

the economic policy institutions over than environmental policy institutions as major

economic organizations and ministries, for examples, National Development and Reform

Commission (NDRC) and other several ministries had more power, resources and influence

than Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) (He, Lu, Mol & Beckers, 2012). Instead of

strong ministries or departments, the autonomy of local networks and governments as

provided more autonomies to provincial, municipal and lower governmental entities in

centralization was described as “too inflexible, bureaucratic and hampering of economic

development” (He, Lu, Mol & Beckers, 2012). Rather than government authorities, limitation

of environmental NGOs and public participation led to policy implementation failure since

overruled from official policies on disclosure, participation, protest and media reporting still

existed from local states and economic interest (He, Lu, Mol & Beckers, 2012).

Case study analysis: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, often referred to as the Jing-Jin-Ji metropolitan region, is a

major national economic zone in Northern China, encompassing the capital Beijing, the

municipality of Tianjin, and Hebei province. Political, cultural, and economic relevance make

this region important. Due to their geographical proximity, these localities exhibit analogous

challenges pertaining to air quality. Industrial sectors, particularly in the province of Hebei.

According to the study conducted by Fan et al. (2020), local industrial activities have a

significant influence on the emissions of Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The operations
encompass the manufacturing of steel and the management of petrochemical plants. Fang et

al. (2022) assert that the emissions are also exacerbated by the dependence on coal for energy

and heating, particularly during colder seasons. Furthermore, the emissions from automobiles

are also a significant contributor to the elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate

matter, in addition to the causes. The primary sources of air pollution in this region are the

emissions produced by companies and vehicles.

Regional transmission brings pollutants from the neighbour areas into Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,

affecting air quality. According to Feng et al. (2021), Beijing receives a lot of particulate

matter from nearby areas. These contaminants can accumulate more easily and remain in the

environment for longer because of the region's complicated geography and the prevailing

weather conditions. This regional dynamic makes managing air quality more difficult since

its effects go beyond the purview of any one governmental body (Guo et al., 2022). As a

result, pollution levels in the BTH region are significantly impacted by regional

transportation.

The complicated chemical processes that take place in the atmosphere are a major contributor

to the generation of secondary particulate matter, which plays a significant role in the air

pollution in the BTH region (Han et al., 2020). Primary emissions of Sulphur dioxide,

nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds combine to form secondary particles. In

2020, Han et al (2023) reported that secondary particle matter may account for 50–70% of

BTH PM2.5. They highlight the complexity of regional air pollution, which is both an

accumulation of emissions and the outcome of chemical reactions (Han et al., 2023). It

explains that secondary particles contribute heavily to regional air pollution.

The area's rapid industrialization and urbanization have directly impacted the intensity and

nature of air pollution in the BTH region. Air quality assessments show that key cities in the

BTH region have emission intensities three to five times higher than the national average
(Han et al., 2021). The BTH region, which covers less than 3% of China's land area, is

responsible for more than 10% of the country's emissions of sulphur dioxide and volatile

organic compounds. Such statistics highlight the disproportional contribution of the BTH

region to national emissions, necessitating targeted regional intervention by the government.

The disproportionate pollution contribution of the BTH region signifies the need for

specialized attention and policies.

The BTH region’s struggle with air pollution is exacerbated by its geographical position,

which favours the accumulation of pollutants, and its industrial activities that are largely

based on coal (Hashizume et al., 2020). Rapid urban expansion and population growth have

led to increased demand for transportation and energy, compounding the air quality issues.

The region's significant role in China's overall economy complicates efforts to transition

away from polluting industrial practices. Addressing the air pollution in the BTH region

requires a multidimensional approach that considers these intertwined geographical,

industrial, and demographic factors. A comprehensive approach must address the

multifaceted nature of air pollution in the BTH region. Inter-governmental cooperation is

essential to effectively manage the air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region due to the

transboundary nature of pollution. The Chinese government has recognized the need for

regional collaboration, as evidenced by policy directives focused on joint prevention and

control measures. The “Twelfth Five-Year Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air

Pollution in Key Regions” identified the BTH as a priority area and established multi-agency

coordination for pollution control. This collaborative governance approach is seen as crucial

for addressing the complex environmental challenges faced by the region. Collaborative

governance is thus recognized as a vital strategy for air quality management in the BTH

region.

Air quality control policy in Central government of China

There were different central government policies addressed air pollution in China. For

example, industrial emission control policy from Central government launched in BTH

region. Due to preparation of Olympic games, central government engaged relocation of

heavy industries from Beijing to the surroundings, focused on Hebei (Wang, L., Zhang, F.,

Pilot, E., Yu, J., Nie, C., Holdaway, J., Yang, L., Li, Y., Wang, W., Vardoulakis, S. & Krafft,

T., 2018). Therefore, it launched a national call for the deduction on the production capacity

towards industrial emission in BTH region in 2013. It aimed at transformed and upgraded

equipment and production processes in Hebei and other provinces. Central government also

launched general legislations on emission and technical standards on plans towards emission

reduction (Wang et al., 2018). In 2013, central government implemented “Air Pollution

Prevention and Control Action Plan (2013–2017)” for tackling air pollution issue in BTH

region. It stated several plans, which were to intensify comprehensive treatment and

reduction of air pollutant emissions, in which strengthen the comprehensive control of air

pollution in industrial enterprises, also the renovation of coal-fired small boilers that could

accelerate construction of central heating, “coal-to-gas” and “coal-to-electricity” projects

(The Central People's Government of the Republic of China, 2013). The policy aimed on the

elimination of coal-fired boilers of 10 steam tons per hour and below and prohibit the

construction of new coal-fired boilers of less than 20 steam tons per hour for BTH regions. It

accelerated the construction of desulfurization, denitrification, and dust removal

transformation projects in key industries. All coal-fired power plants, sintering machines and

pellet production equipment of iron and steel enterprises, catalytic cracking units of

petroleum refining enterprises, and non-ferrous metal smelting enterprises should install

desulfurization facilities, and coal-fired boilers of 20 steam tons per hour and above should

implement desulfurization (The Central People's Government of the Republic of China,

2013). Nevertheless, the existing dust removal facilities for coal-fired boilers and industrial
kilns should be upgraded. Central government also stated that promotion of the control

towards volatile organic compound pollution, such as petrochemical, organic chemical,

surface coating, packaging and printing industries, the implementation of volatile organic

compounds comprehensive remediation, in the petrochemical industry to carry out “leak

detection and repair” technical transformation (Li, Zhang, Shi & Hewings, 2019; The Central

People's Government of the Republic of China, 2013).

The plan also aimed to make improvement on volatile organic compounds limit standards for

coatings, adhesives and other products, promote the use of water-based coatings, and

encourage the production, sales and use of low-toxicity and low-volatile organic solvents

(The Central People's Government of the Republic of China, 2013).

The policy goal of air quality control policy was stated clearly that BTH, Yangtze River

Delta, Pearl River Delta and other regions should basically complete the construction and

transformation of pollution control facilities for coal-fired power plants, coal-fired boilers and

industrial kilns by the end of 2015 and complete the comprehensive treatment of organic

waste gas from petrochemical enterprises. It also stated that for deepening the control of

unknown sources pollution, in which stated as comprehensive remediation of urban dust. This

policy aimed at strengthening the supervision of construction dust, actively promote green

construction, the construction site of the construction project should be fully enclosed and set

up with a retaining wall, open operation is strictly prohibited, and the road at the construction

site should be hardened on the ground.

The policy also strengthened prevention and control of pollution from mobile sources and

urban management, which deepen the optimization of urban functions and layout planning,

promote intelligent traffic management, and alleviate urban traffic congestion (The Central

People's Government of the Republic of China, 2013). Policy noted that on strengthening the

environmental management towards motor vehicles as it aimed at Beijing, Shanghai,

Guangzhou and other regions must strictly limit the number of motor vehicles (Li, Zhang, Shi

& Hewings, 2019; The Central People's Government of the Republic of China, 2013).

In 2016, central government also launched “Enhanced measures of Air Pollution Prevention

and Control in the BTH area (2016–2017)”, in which it was the extended version of 2013

policy. There were several plans implemented in BTH regions. For Shijingshan, it aimed at

decrease and eliminated 5500 old motor vehicles every year, and the city's sixth phase of

vehicle fuel standards will be implemented from January 1, 2017, replacing the three-way

catalytic converter of individual taxis, and formulating and implementing high-emission

motor vehicle pollution control measures. Strict dust control policy improved the level of

green construction management of various construction sites, formulate special plans for road

dust control, carry out graded road cleaning and cleaning, implement regional dust reduction

assessment, and control the amount of dust reduction at 8 tons in every month (Beijing

Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, 2016). For Chang Ping district, it aimed at

promotion of the clean energy transformation of coal-fired boilers, deepened the motor

vehicle management, such as accelerate the elimination of old motor vehicles, implement the

sixth phase of Beijing's vehicle fuel standards in 2017, replace three-way catalytic converter

of taxis, and strictly control the pollution of high-emission motor vehicles (Beijing Municipal

Ecology and Environment Bureau, 2016). It stated that strictly control construction dust and

road dust pollution and implement regional dust reduction assessments. For small policy

implementation, BTH regions corporate with rural area on “electricity replace coal” plan,

different companies included Petro China and Sinopec, etc, must implement comprehensive

policy and completed in deadline. Every department and region must present plans and

policies to the environment bureau in or before July 2016. The policy also strengthened the

management evaluation, which Environment protection bureau should establish monthly

management control and evaluation mechanism for monitoring every region and department
work monthly (Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, 2016). It provided

implementation on quarterly assessment towards improvement on air quality in BTH regions,

such as gave warning and communication towards departments that slowed down the work

(Li, Zhang, Shi & Hewings, 2019; Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau,

2016).

Motivation of local governments

The reasons and motivation of local governments to implement the central government’s

ecological and environmental policies can be mainly divided into two aspects: support from

the central government and other organizations, and supervision by the central government.

The support measures can be mainly divided into the following three aspects. First, financial

support from the central government. The central government allocates a large amount of

financial funds to local governments every year to improve air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-

Hebei region. For example, in October 2013, the Ministry of Finance announced the

arrangement of 5 billion yuan of funding, all for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and neighboring

regions to combat air pollution, with an emphasis on Hebei Province, which has a heavy

burden of air quality control (Ministry of Finance, 2013).

Second, credit loan support from banks. Some financial institutions provide loans to local

governments to help solve the funding shortfalls they face in combating air pollution. For

example, in December 2015, the Asian Development Bank approved its first policy-based

loan of $300 million to the PRC to help address the air pollution problem of the greater

Beijing capital region (ADB, 2015).

Third, experts’ guidance from the central government. In April 2017, the State Council

executive meeting decided to research the causes of heavy air pollution in the fall and winter

in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and neighboring regions, key industries, and pollutant emission

control technologies. Then a team of nearly 2,000 experts was formed.

The central government's supervision mechanism is an essential reason for local governments

in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to combat air pollution vigorously. The Beijing-Tianjin-

Hebei region has a long history of air pollution. Although the central government had been

concerned about air quality in this region, local governments tended to choose to ensure

economic growth at the cost of polluting the environment (Liu, 2020). Therefore, the

existence of the central government's supervision mechanism is necessary. The central

government's supervision mechanism can be mainly categorized into supervision by laws and

regulations and administrative supervision.

The State Council's Bulletin No. 27 in 2013 was a notice that triggered the action plan for the

prevention and control of air pollution. The central government clearly stated that it is

necessary to improve laws and regulations, accelerate the revision of the Air Pollution

Prevention and Control Law, and increase the penalties for violations of the law that cause air

pollution. It is also necessary to draft environmental tax laws and speed up the revision of the

Environmental Protection Law. The central government has also demanded local

governments consider local realities and introduce local regulations on air pollution

prevention and control. The strict legal supervision mechanism puts great pressure on local

governments in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to combat air pollution. In 2016 and 2020,

Hebei Province amended the Hebei Provincial Ecological Environment Protection

Regulations twice. The central government plays a vital role in the legal supervision of local

governments in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei to fight against air pollution.

Regarding administrative supervision, the central government requires local governments in

the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to improve their environmental regulatory capacity and the

environmental regulatory mechanism of state supervision, local regulation, and unit

responsibility. Local governments are required to strengthen environmental protection

enforcement, promote joint enforcement, regional enforcement, and cross enforcement, and
crack down on illegal behavior that undermines air quality. The central government has also

called for implementing an environmental information disclosure system. The central

government would publish the ten cities with the worst and best air quality every month,

while local governments in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei must publish the air quality rankings

of prefecture-level and above cities in the region. For example, the 2013 China

Environmental Status Bulletin announced the ten cities with poor air quality in 2013, seven of

which were in Hebei Province (MOE, 2013). Such disclosure is also one of the central

government's administrative oversight tools over local governments.

Policy effectiveness

Throughout air quality control policy implemented in China, it believed air quality of

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region improved as policy results reflected the CO2 emission

reductions and reduction rates in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2014 to 2017. From

the amount of carbon dioxide emission reduction and the rate of emission reduction during

the examination period, all cities, except Baoding, Cangzhou and Langfang, have achieved

carbon emission reduction of different degrees, especially for Beijing and Tianjin, it reduced

8.14% and 9.32% respectively (Li & Wang, 2023). In terms of emission reduction, the top

three cities in terms of carbon dioxide emission reduction are Tianjin, Beijing and Handan. In

terms of emission reduction rates, four cities, Tianjin, Chengde, Zhangjiakou and Beijing

achieved emission reductions of more than 8%, Handan achieved emission reductions of

more than 6%, and Shijiazhuang and Tangshan achieved emission reductions of between 3%

and 5%. Taken together, Beijing, Tianjin and Zhangjiakou have achieved significant results

in emission reduction, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan and Handan have had more obvious effects in

carbon reduction, while Baoding, Cangzhou and Langfang are facing a more severe emission

reduction situation, which were –2.17%, -2.23% and –2.12% respectively (Li & Wang,

2023).
Policy results showed the amount and rate of decline in fine particulate matter concentrations

in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2014 to 2017. In terms of decreases in fine

particulate matter concentrations, all 12 cities achieved sustained decreases in fine particulate

matter concentrations in all years from 2014 to 2017, for Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and

Tangshan, fine particulate matter decrease rate were 32.42%, 28.65%, 29.01% and 34.66%

respectively, except for Handan, which saw an increase in 2017 compared to 2016 (Yin & Li,

2023).

In summary, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has demonstrated synergistic governance

effects of greenhouse gas emission reduction and air pollutant prevention. Still, the degree of

synergy varies more markedly depending on the city and the specific type of air pollutant

(Yang et al., 2021). It has significantly improved the air quality in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and

the neighboring regions, and the improvement effect of air quality in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is

significantly higher than that in other regions.

Based on the monthly air quality index (AQI) and the concentration panel data of six major

individual air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3) from 2014-2019, the policy

effects of joint prevention and control of air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

were empirically assessed by applying the PSM-DID, supplemented by the policy dynamic

effect analysis, mechanism analysis, and robustness test. The study found that the Beijing-

Tianjin-Hebei air pollution joint prevention and control policy can effectively manage

regional and compound air pollution problems. Under existing conditions, the policy was able

to explain about 34.7% of the reduction in the air quality index (AQI) in the target region and

about 34.3%, 36.7%, 22.6%, 61.8%, and 19.8% of the reduction in the concentrations of the

five major individual air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO), which implies that

the joint prevention and control policy can indeed achieve regional overall improvement in

air quality (Lu et al., 2020).

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei air pollution prevention and control work has continuously

strengthened cooperation between the central and local authorities, explored synergistic

governance among local governments, gradually overcome the limitations of territorialized

management, and formed an increasingly improved synergistic air pollution governance

system. The scope of prevention and control of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated air

pollution control has been expanding, and the means of prevention and control have become

increasingly stringent, with remarkable synergistic results.

Policy suggestions

There are several policy suggestions for air quality control policy in China. Firstly, China

government should Optimizing and adjusting the urban energy structure as well as

accelerating the upgrading and optimization of the industrial structure. Based on the current

management, we should also focus on the reduction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic

compounds, especially the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and

implement the synergistic reduction of multiple pollutants. It can rely on geographical

advantages to develop non-polluting industries, such as service, tourism and logistics

industries, and at the same time introduce corresponding policy measures to control the scale

of high-polluting industries and reduce the density of high-polluting industries; Secondly, the

government of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the neighbor regions should accelerate the

upgrading of polluting industries, reshape the energy structure based on upgrading of the

industrial structure, set up the concept of sustainable development, and build up a green

development model.

In fact, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei air pollution synergistic governance should establish an

inclusive incentive mechanism, a trans-regional environmental governance institution with

the participation of multiple subjects, a sustainable governance process under the rule of law,

and a diversified supervision pathway, to continuously promote the integration of economic

and social development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and to establish an efficient and

sustainable synergistic governance model. Cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and neighboring

regions should continue to promote the cross-regional coordinated management of air

pollution in the “2+26” cities and build a long-term mechanism for coordinated pollution

control. It should rationalize the relationship between multiple parties, create a benign

interaction and synergistic win-win governance environment, and must uphold the

development concept of treating heavy pollution, preventing light pollution and maintaining a

good ecology. Also, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei in the regional environmental collaborative

governance, it should be to reduce the emission of pollution as the starting point for the

development of environmental protection laws and regulations and protect the ecological

environment with the most stringent system, the most rigorous rule of law. Nevertheless,

central government should Pay attention to the synergistic control of many kinds of air

pollutants and strengthen the integrated management of multiple pollution sources. Although

the urban air pollution prevention and control policy has achieved remarkable results, but also

need to admit that the current management of O3 pollution is not very satisfactory. Therefore,

it is necessary to strengthen the integrated management of multiple sources of pollution,

based on stable control of primary particulate pollution, accurately identifying and gradually

reducing the emission of air pollutants as precursors of secondary particulate matter, to

achieve the precise synergistic control of different types of air pollutants.

Conclusion

Based on Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region case study, coal burning, and power or industrial use

existed, PM2.5 was also locally produced and became the most serious pollutant, which

harmed BTH region air quality. Central government launched industrial emission control

policy, “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (2013–2017)” and “Enhanced

measures of Air Pollution Prevention and Control in the BTH area (2016–2017)” for tackling
air pollution in BTH region. Central government motivated local government on pollutant

reduction and provided fiscal and credit loan support, also revised laws and regulations for

improvement of environmental capacity. Policy result showed air quality in BTH region

improved, BTH region air pollution control work continued for strengthen the cooperation

between central and local government. However, there were some policy suggestions for air

quality control in Beijing, such as the establishment of inclusive incentive mechanism, pay

more awareness on pollutant control and strengthen the management towards air pollutant

control.

Central government control air pollutant policy continues in 2017-2018 autumn and winter

season due to average density of PM2.5 increased 5.4% in BTH region, policy aimed at

decreasing average density of PM2.5 to 15% or above in BTH region. It tasked on

establishing and improving air quality control monitor system, accelerate the construction of

district and county monitoring networks. All 327 districts and counties in “2+26” cities will

have completed air pollution control systems, which contained sulphur dioxide (SO2) and

PM2.5, etc by end of October 2017. Original monitoring data of all sites are uploaded to the

China Environmental Monitoring Station in real time, with an upload rate of more than 90%,

in which all monitoring sites other than national control station will be uploaded to provincial

environmental monitoring department. Provincial environmental monitoring departments will

upload the data reviewed last month to the China Environmental Monitoring Station before

the 5th of each month. Intensity increased gradually and there was remarkable effect of air

quality control in BTH region.

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