The average surface temperature in China has increased by 0.23°C (0.4°F) each decade of the last 65 years, said a Chinese government official—twice the average pace of warming everywhere else on the planet. This isn’t the first time the Chinese government… Read More ›

air pollution
Overgrown Beijing slaps new limits on industry in bid to cut smog
China‘s overgrown and smog-hit capital Beijing has passed new rules banning the expansion of polluting and resource-intensive industries, the local government said on Friday. In a list of restrictions published on its website (www.beijing.gov.cn), the municipal government said it would… Read More ›
China: Beijing to enforce use of clean coal in anti-pollution drive
China‘s capital city, Beijing, will enforce the use of cleaner low-sulphur coal from August 1st in a bid to tackle the soaring levels of air pollution that frequently clog the country’s major cities, the official Xinhua media agency said on… Read More ›
Opportunity glimmers through China’s toxic smog
As China’s smog levels crept past record highs in early December, the phone lines at pollution-busting kit maker Broad Group lit up with Chinese customers worried about hazardous pollution levels that have gripped China this year. China’s government is struggling… Read More ›
China says world’s worst pollution has benefits
Commentaries by two of China’s most influential news outlets suggesting that an ongoing air pollution crisis was not without a silver lining drew a withering reaction on Tuesday from internet users and other media. In online commentaries on Monday, state… Read More ›
China: Flights delayed as air pollution hits record in Shanghai
Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled on Friday in China’s commercial hub of Shanghai as record levels of air pollution shrouded the city in smog, prompting authorities to issue the highest level of health warning. The incident is especially… Read More ›
China’s anti-pollution drive risks running out of gas
A chronic shortage of natural gas is hurting China’s plan to move away from burning coal to heat homes and offices, raising the prospect of more choking air pollution this winter and beyond. The problem is worst in northern China,… Read More ›
China: Thick smog blocked road, train, air traffic for two days
Thick smog in Harbin urban areas has caused the closing of primary and secondary schools and expressways. The PM2.5 index has exceeded the maximum range of the metre. After the serious smog on October 20, and the early morning on… Read More ›
China to cut coal use and shut polluters in bid to clear the air
China unveiled comprehensive new measures to tackle air pollution on Thursday, with plans to slash coal consumption and close polluting mills, factories and smelters, but experts said implementing the bold targets would be a major challenge. China has been under… Read More ›
Australia helps China build emissions trading scheme
Australia has been drafted in to help design an emissions trading scheme for China, the world’s biggest polluter. A deal announced in Canberra on Thursday will see the Australian National University take leadership of a program that will analyse pollution… Read More ›
China’s pollution reduces life span by 5.5 years
Air pollution causes people in northern China to live an average of 5.5 years shorter than their southern counterparts, according to a study released on Monday which claims to show in unprecedented detail the link between air pollution and life… Read More ›
China’s smog levels get the cartoon treatment
It’s no secret that air pollution is a major problem in China. In fact, in recent years, the problem has gotten so bad that the Environmental Protection Agency, the environmental watchdog in the US, has had to revise its Air… Read More ›
Will China ever get its pollution problem under control?
When Beijing was choking on record levels of smog, observers wondered whether China would ever get its pollution problem under control. It’s an insanely difficult question, with huge implications from climate change to the global economy. Here’s one stab at an… Read More ›
Canned air on the market in China
Chinese entrepreneur Chen Guangbi may not make too much of the invention of his latest product, but it certainly ranks amongst the most creative food products in history. Chen Guangbi, a Chinese billionaire, philanthropist, and the Chinese version (not a… Read More ›
China blames Japan for China’s pollution
Japan and China have in recent weeks engaged in an unnerving game of aerial cat and mouse, scrambling fighter jets against each over contested airspace, and Japan accusing China of locking weapon-guiding radar against a Japanese helicopter—a claim China denies…. Read More ›
China’s oil giants take a choke-hold on power in politics of pollution
The search for culprits behind the rancid haze enveloping China‘s capital has turned a spotlight on the country’s two largest oil companies and their resistance to tougher fuel standards. Bureaucratic fighting between the environment ministry on the one hand and… Read More ›
China plans emergency measures to control Beijing air pollution
Beijing is to unveil unprecedented new rules governing how China‘s capital reacts to hazardous air pollution, the official Xinhua news agency said, as deteriorating air quality threatens to become a rallying point for wider political dissatisfaction. The rules will formalize… Read More ›
Northern China on health alert as smog worsens
The capital saw some of its worst air pollution in a decade. With fog making things worse, roads were closed and flights hit elsewhere. Photo: Xinhua Pollution levels off the scale in Beijing, and with no wind, conditions could get… Read More ›
More monitoring to reveal true extent of pollution in China’s cities
Environmental experts say real-time air quality updates mandated to start in 74 mainland cities on New Year’s Day will leave local officials less room to manipulate data and hide the country’s worsening pollution problem. They said hourly readings – already… Read More ›
China: PM2.5 air pollutants causing more deaths than estimated, study says
The health risks of microscopic air pollutants have been grossly underestimated on the mainland, with nearly 8,600 premature deaths expected this year in four major cities, a study has revealed. And premature deaths are “just a tiny fraction” of the… Read More ›
Most Chinese cities are not coming clean on smog says survey
Despite some recent progress in Beijing and other big cities, most mainland cities have still not made a sincere effort to improve transparency about their air pollution problems, according to a study. The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs’ survey… Read More ›
China tells US to stop reporting pollution
A senior Chinese official demanded on Tuesday that foreign embassies stop issuing air pollution readings, saying it was against the law and diplomatic conventions, in pointed criticism of a closely watched US embassy index. The level of air pollution in… Read More ›