Beijing to reward anti-pollution efforts

This file photo shows the Palace Museum in Beijing was enveloped in haze. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Beijing has set aside money to reward enterprises that carry out technical improvements to reduce pollution emissions, the municipal environmental protection authority said.

Wang Chunlin, an official with the environmental protection bureau, said industrial pollution still accounts for 18.1 percent of the city's PM2.5 pollution - particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less.

In order to achieve the target of a 50 percent reduction in discharges of major air pollutants by 2017, a reward and incentive policy to encourage enterprises to deepen reform in environmental protection technology has been offered.

The highest reward for a single project could be 20 million yuan ($3.3 million).

Some 116 environmental protection projects have applied for the incentives. Among them, 38 projects by four companies and groups has been initiated with a total funding of 113 million yuan. The funds were allocated by the Beijing finance bureau.

Long known for its poor air quality, Beijing has endeavored to reduce pollution for years.

Measures have included bans on coal use, shutting down highly polluting factories in suburbs, removing old vehicles from operation, rewarding public supervision and enacting strict regulations on granting license plates to limit the increase in new cars. Such measures are believed to have contributed to the reduction in the level of air pollution in recent years.