Reduce air pollution to protect people's health

Seemingly better air quality statistics are cold comfort for Chinese people who have a huge stake in terms of their health in the country's ongoing campaign against air pollution, which could last for years. So instead of breathing a sigh of relief, policymakers should focus on taking more concrete measures to reduce hazardous smog.

It is counterintuitive to believe that Beijing's air quality improved in 2015 when thick smog in December alone forced the Chinese capital to twice issue the highest-level alert for pollution.

That is not to say Beijing's environmental authorities might have statistically got it wrong that the average concentration of PM2.5 (harmful airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less) was 81 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015, marking a drop of 6 percent from 2014 and 10 percent from 2013.