North China province sees progress in fight against pollution, poverty

BEIJING - North China's Hebei province has made significant progress in its fight against pollution and poverty.

Authorities in Hebei have made "unprecedented efforts" against pollution, with a variety of plans implemented to realize blue skies, clear water and clean soil, Wang Dongfeng, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hebei Provincial Committee, said at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

So far, 5.35 million families in the province have seen their main use of energy changing from coal to gas or electricity, and 74,555 outdated vehicles have been phased out. Meanwhile, more than 120,000 polluting companies have been ordered to change, while 6,287 dirty ponds and 43 foul waterways have been treated.

Last year, 658,000 hectares of forests were planted in Hebei.

Air quality last year was the best in the past six years. Last year, the province had 208 days of good air quality on average, 79 days more than 2013. The density of average PM2.5 was down 48 percent compared with 2013.

The province also made progress in its anti-poverty efforts, Wang said.

Provincial authorities allocated 4.04 billion yuan ($585 million) in poverty-relief funds, while city and county authorities handed out 3.3 billion yuan. Meanwhile, another 11.54 billion yuan was pooled by authorities into poverty relief.

Last year, the province's 21 counties and 650,000 people were lifted out of poverty.