China will work to clear its skies by increasing investment in clean energy and punishing polluters, Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday in comments aimed at mollifying public anger over chronic smog.
Beijing – China will work to clear its skies by increasing investment in clean energy and punishing polluters, Premier Li Keqiang said Sunday in comments aimed at mollifying public anger over chronic smog.
Swathes of northern China were blanketed under toxic smog this winter, affecting more than 100 million people and forcing government agencies to take emergency measures to curb pollution.
“Environmental pollution remains grave, and in particular, some areas are frequently hit by smog,” Li told delegates to the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress (NPC) in opening its annual session.
But “we will make our skies blue again”, he said in his annual state-of-the-nation speech.
Pollution has plagued China for years, with the dramatic fouling of the country’s air, water and soil representing the dark side of breakneck economic growth that has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty.
Li listed a series of measures China will take this year to help clear the air, including upgrading coal-fired power plants to make them less polluting, reducing coal-fired heating, and implementing “round-the-clock monitoring” of industrial pollution.
