New pollutants fee to curb organic chemicals threat

Beijing will become the first Chinese city to impose pollution fees on a new group of airborne pollutants - volatile organic compounds - as early as this month.

"The estimated amount of fees to be collected annually is between 1 billion yuan ($162 million) and 2 billion yuan, about half of which may come from southwest Beijing's Fangshan district, where the city's biggest VOC emitter, Sinopec Beijng Yanshan Co, is located," said Wang Hailin, a researcher from the Beijing Research Institute of Environmental Protection.

Currently, pollution fees are charged for more than 40 types of airborne pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide. Similarly, VOC is a commonly found airborne pollutant.