Li Keqiang pledges measures in fight for clean air(3)

Selling the policy

"Looking back 50 years, I can't imagine there are many people now who don't recognize that this was the right policy," wrote Ken Livingstone in an official memoir of the 1952 smog incident, published in 2002.

In the UK, there was a great deal of public discontent after the government passed legislation aimed at phasing out coal fires in response to the 1952 incident. It meant that before the widespread adoption of central heating many people had to use paraffin heaters and there was great resistance to change.

The lesson can also be applied to China.

It is wrong to believe that a lack of cooperation by the public results from a lack of awareness, said Zhang. More often, people don't change the way they behave because they are restricted by external conditions.

"If the government wants a higher take-up rate for public transport, they need to make it a better choice for the people," she said. "Traveling by bus or subway is a pleasant experience in many countries. The transport arrives on time and is always not crowded."

Greater public involvement in the decision-making process is also essential, said Ira S. Richards, a toxicologist and professor of public health at the University of South Florida.

"In the US, communities have some say in the production of the standard. Chinese communities have greater awareness today and they should play an important role in producing the standards for anti-air pollution," Richards said.

Shifting the problem

"This pollution is an extreme case. Beijing's air quality now is better than in 2008, as can be seen from the average whole-year figure for 2012," said Su Yang, a senior research fellow at the Development Research Center of the State Council.

The quality of the air in China's capital has improved for 14 consecutive years, with the number of major pollutants falling.

The municipal government has been taking measures to cut coal consumption in the city for a number of years. Approximately 700,000 metric tons of coal was saved in 2012 alone, thanks to projects that shifted the fuel source to forms of clean energy.

More than 300,000 old vehicles that failed to meet the city's emission standard, highest number in the country, were taken off the roads in 2012.

Regarding industrial pollution, the ultimate measure may be to ship it to somewhere else, according to Gerard Kuperus, an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of San Francisco.

"China is today producing most of our electronics and consumer products. Providing electricity for such large-scale production creates massive pollution. In a sense, the way in which the US and Europe 'solved' part of their pollution problem is now causing pollution in other parts of the world, such as China. As we ship our products from China, we have, so to speak, 'shipped' part of our air pollution to that part of the world. While China has seen tremendous economic growth, the people are paying for it with their health."