Clear skies in 5 years: survey

Over half of respondents living in Beijing believe that clean air experienced during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings will become normal in Beijing within five years, according to a poll conducted by the Global Times Global Poll Center.

The survey was conducted from Tuesday to Thursday and involved 1,008 residents at least 18 years old in Beijing.

About 52 percent of the respondents said that the good weather popularly dubbed as "APEC blue" can become permanent within five years, while some 8 percent think that it will take longer than 21 years to achieve that goal.

When asked whether citizens are satisfied with the air quality during the APEC summit period, 84 percent said they were content, with about 29 percent saying they are "very content" while only over 1 percent expressed dissatisfaction.

The study also found that nearly 57 percent of the people interviewed support a long-term odd-even license plate system, a rule which requires vehicles to run on alternate days based on their license plate number, to ease traffic congestion.

Among them, 15 percent said they "strongly support" the plan while only 2 percent said they "strongly oppose" the idea.

Respondents who do not drive are more supportive of the system.

To make "APEC blue" more frequent, over 70 percent said they are willing to "promote green commuting and take public transport" in order to reduce air pollution. Over 62 percent of them said they would "pay attention to energy saving such as lowering the use of electricity."

Options like "reporting enterprises and individuals who pollute the environment" and "volunteering to promote an environmentally friendly concept" were also widely accepted by respondents, with 45.6 percent and 44.3 percent supporting them respectively.

The survey found that older people tend to be more satisfied with the air quality during the APEC summit and are also more willing to promote environmentalism.