Environmental protection? There's an app for that

Although data provided to smartphones allow the general public to access information about local emissions levels, the programs are only as effective as the official agencies tasked with dealing with complaints, as Zheng Jinran reports.

After downloading a smartphone app called Pollution Map in September, Fang Zheng has used it to monitor emissions from local factories every day.

If the resident of Hefei city in Anhui province discovers that businesses are discharging excessive levels of airborne pollutants, far higher than the national standards, he posts their information on his micro blog and forwards it to the official accounts of the relevant authorities, including local governments and environmental protection bureaus, "like an observer", he said.