Such a vast sum has had some effect, but the air in Beijing is still quite a bit less than lung-friendly. Translated from the Beijing News:
Amidst much criticism of Beijing’s air quality, the city’s government has spent 120 billion yuan trying to solve the problem–20 billion for last year alone. These numbers are unprecedented in history. The city also plans to move more than 100 highly polluting, energy-hungry plants–including chemical shops, steel mills, cement and mining concerns, etc–outside the city limits. The most famous relocation so far is Capital Steel (ȶñÈí¢), which cut back its production by 4 million tons this year after moving to a location far outside the city.
Among other moves to clean up its air, Beijing has upgraded 60,000 of its taxis and will start to impose the strictest vehicle exhaust emissions standards, or European IV, this year. In an effort to realize its promise of a sand storm-free Olympics next year, the host city has also been planting trees in a number of “desertified” areas to keep the sand in place. [Full Text in Chinese]
[Image: Beijing’s air pollution from Time blog]
In another story also in the Beijing News, a spokesperson with the State Forestry Bureau declared that Beijing will see fewer sand storms in the coming years, thanks to government efforts to fight the problem. [Full Text in Chinese]
