Air pollution top priority

That controlling PM2.5 has been made top priority on the municipal government of Beijing's 2012 list of public welfare projects is indeed beyond many people's expectations.

Yet in spite of the loud public outcry for addressing the deteriorating local air quality, which slid to unacceptable levels late last year, the city is embarrassingly unprepared for such a challenge. After all, the city is yet to declare substantial headway in dealing with the much larger PM10 particles in the atmosphere.

The difficulty in controlling PM2.5 is compounded by the fact that facilities for monitoring the minute particles are just beginning to appear in the city, and there are no agreed standards in existence.