Beijing to invest 50 billion yuan to tackle air pollution

The Chinese capital plans to invest 47.858 billion yuan ($7.662 billion) to combat air pollution in the next five years, with a special focus on coal-fired pollution, vehicle emissions, industrial pollution and dust, authorities have said.

The funds were allocated by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Finance to support the city's 2013-2017 programs for the prevention and control of air pollution.

The capital has so far invested more than 14.7 billion yuan in combating pollution.

An analysis of the sources of PM2.5 in Beijing shows industrial pollution accounts for 18.1% of the city's pollution. Beijing thus plans to carry out more than 100 environmental protection projects aimed at reducing air pollution.

Though Beijing has already achieved the target of pollution reduction of the five-year Plan for 2011-2015, the government still attaches great importance to the prevention and control of pollution. According to the 2014 emission reduction target, the major pollutants in Beijing will be reduced compared to levels in 2013 – sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide by 5%, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen by 2%.