Beijing unveils 5-year plan to improve air quality

Beijing has unveiled a five-year plan to improve air quality, which includes measures such as cutting coal consumption and vehicle emissions and promoting clean energy use.

The plan is the toughest and most comprehensive in tackling air pollution since 1998. It notably aims to reduce PM 2.5 particle density by at least 25 percent by 2017. The city has vowed to restrict the total number of vehicles to 6 million by 2017 by allowing fewer car registrations, starting next year.

Beijing has also pledged to close companies causing pollution, toughen environmental impact assessments for new projects, push forward water and power pricing reforms to raise costs for heavy polluters, and raise or levy new fees on emissions of major pollutants.

Local environmental authority says the massive action plan will cost nearly 1 trillion yuan, or nearly 160 billion US dollars.

"According to our initial estimate, during the five year plan period, the total expenditure will be close to 1 trillion yuan, of which government spending will be somewhere between 200 and 300 billion yuan. We will diversify funding channels. In the meantime, we are very willing to collaborate with foreign companies who have the technology to tackle air pollution." Fang Li, spokesperson for Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said.