At the first session of the 14th Beijing Municipal People's Congress on Tuesday, acting mayor Wang Anshun said in a work report that the density of major pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, has dropped by an average of 29 percent over the past five years.
The high percentage stirred debate among deputies on Wednesday, as the current smog could make residents suspicious over the truthfulness of the figure. Some deputies even advised deleting the reference from the report to avoid disputes from the public.
"Many people don't understand why the smog is still so serious, since pollutant density has decreased so much," said deputy Hu Min, a professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering under Peking University.
Hu explained at the session that previous air quality was measured on using the PM10 gauge instead of the current PM2.5 gauge, which is more strict.
She advised that the report should refer to the adoption of the stricter gauge while mentioning "major pollutants."
The work report, delivered on Tuesday, will be reviewed at the session and fine-tuned until a final version is ready to be released.
To reduce auto emissions, the environmental protection bureau said on Wednesday that the city will adopt a new standard for vehicle emissions starting Feb. 1.
New cars in Beijing will be subject to the new Beijing Standard V, which will be equivalent to the Euro V standard, said Fang Li, a spokesman for the bureau.
Other measures to be implemented this year will include taking 180,000 older vehicles off the road, promoting clean energy cars and closing some 450 heavily polluting plants, according to acting mayor Wang.
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