Cleaning air may cost 300 bln US dollars

A visitor takes photo at the Bund in Shanghai, east China, Dec. 9, 2013. Heavy smog and fog continued to hit Shanghai on Monday. (Xinhua/Pei Xin)

A total of 1.75 trillion yuan (290 billion US dollars) will be invested from 2013 to 2017 to deal with China's worsening air pollution, an environment expert said on Wednesday.

Wang Jinnan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, said at the 4th Caixin Summit in Beijing that the investment would drive up GDP by nearly 2 trillion yuan and create over 2 million jobs.

According to Wang, 36.7 percent of the investment, or 640 billion yuan should go on cleaning up industry, followed by 490 billion yuan (28.2 percent) on cleaner energy sources. Cleaning up motor vehicles will absorb 210 billion yuan.

The State Council issued the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan in September to control PM2.5 (airborne particles of less than 2.5 microns diameter).

The action plan requires PM2.5 in populated regions and metropolises to be reduced significantly by 2017. The annual average of PM2.5 in Beijing would be expected to drop to 60 micrograms per cubic meter.

Smoggy cities to clear the air

China has introduced various emergency responses and long-term measures against air pollution in the central and eastern regions. The air quality index (AQI) reading for Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, reached 500 on Wednesday afternoon, at the top of the AQI scale and indicating hazardous pollution, according to the national air quality monitoring website.