beijing

China's capital, one of the world's most polluted cities, has begun to clean up its air following moves by a number of cities in China to release data on air pollution levels. Beijing has long suffered from air pollution produced by the burning of low quality coal in homes and factories, and its growing number of cars is aggravating the problem.

Similar problems afflict many Chinese cities. Indeed, a World Bank report last year cited air pollution as one factor making chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — emphysema and chronic bronchitis — the leading cause of death in China.

The problems are not confined to China's cities. Acid rain is afflicting forests, particularly in the south. And China is also believed to be a growing source of the acid rain that falls in neighbouring countries, such as Japan (see Nature 392, 426; 1998).

Despite a 1989 law requiring environmental reports by all levels of the Chinese government, local governments have only recently begun to release figures on air pollution. Last year, 27 cities began making weekly air pollution reports, and Beijing's local government started releasing figures on 28 February, immediately before the opening of the National People's Congress in March.

The start of weekly reports in Beijing has been followed by intense media coverage of air pollution problems in what Western observers say is an orchestrated effort by the new central government to build public awareness as it starts to tackle the problem.

The former National Environmental Protection Agency has been upgraded to ministerial status in the central government, and renamed the State Environmental Protection Administration. But with only 400 employees it is hard for the new ministry to enforce environmental controls nationwide. Observers say this is why the administration is using the media to bring pressure on local governments.

The amount of information released varies from city to city. In Shanghai, one of China's most progressive cities, the levels of three key pollutants — sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides and total suspended particulates — are released each week. But in Beijing, only the level of the worst pollutant among the three is announced.

Last year's World Bank report said levels of sulphur dioxide and particulates in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shenyang and Xiían were two to five times higher than the maximum recommended by the World Health Organization, making them among the most badly polluted cities in the world .

Among new activities in Beijing in recent weeks, the municipal environmental protection and traffic administration bureaus have begun spot checks of cars to find out if they have catalytic converters, fining drivers of the worst polluting cars.

The local Beijing authorities have also announced that they will use 1.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas over the next two years in a bid to discourage residents from burning coal bricks in home stoves. The city plans to set up 40 coal-free zones and encourage the use of high grade coal elsewhere, as well as introducing central heating to 50 per cent of homes by 2000.

The burning of coal in homes is one of main sources of air pollution. The 27 million tons of coal that Beijing burns each year produces a haze with high levels of sulphur dioxide and dust that hangs over the city and chokes residents.