Pollution priority for president Xi
Print Edition
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been checking Beijing’s air quality first thing every morning, he told world leaders yesterday, after authorities pulled out all the stops to avoid the city’s notorious smog during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The Chinese capital is periodically hit by choking, acrid haze with particulate levels soaring far beyond recommended limits.
But for the APEC meeting, Beijing and neighboring areas have imposed tight limits on vehicle use, ordered factories to close and given public sector employees holidays.
The result has been stunning skies popularly dubbed “APEC blue” by commentators. Even Xi used the phrase yesterday.
Levels of PM2.5 particulates — the smallest and most dangerous — fell to 4 micrograms per cubic meter last Thursday, down from more than 400 at times last month. The World Health Organization’s recommended maximum is 25.
“These days the first thing I do is to check the air quality, hoping the smog won’t be too bad so that our distinguished guests will be comfortable,” Xi said at a welcome banquet for leaders and their spouses.
“My hope is that every day we will see a blue sky, green mountains and clear rivers, not just in Beijing, but all across China so that our children will live in an enjoyable environment,” Xi told diners including his counterparts from the United States and Russia: Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.
Xi described anti-pollution efforts as “a very important part of the Chinese dream.”
“Some people call the clear Beijing sky these days the ‘APEC blue,’ it is beautiful but temporary and it will be gone soon after the APEC meeting,” Xi said in a candid admission.
The country put on a dazzling welcome for the APEC leaders, lighting up the capital’s huge Olympic park as they arrived for the banquet in high-collared traditional Chinese tunics with a sleek modern design.
The event culminates today with a formal leaders’ summit.
China is hosting APEC for the first time since 2001, when it was still re-emerging as a world economic power.
In a speech delivered on Sunday, President Xi underlined how much things have changed when he offered his vision of an “Asia-Pacific dream,” in which China’s continued rise offers “infinite promise” to all.
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