Making blue skies over Jing-Jin-Ji last

We believe it is fair to say some of the Chinese government's more stringent standards issued at the national level and tightened in key provinces have indeed started to have some impact. Now, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (or Jing-Jin-Ji, as it is referred to in China) has high targets for air, water and soil quality.

The amended air pollution prevention and control law became effective on Jan 1, 2016. China also updated the national environment law last year, laying the foundations for better information disclosure on environmental issues and giving citizens greater say on their environment. So there is good reason to believe air pollution in Jing-Jin-Ji is better controlled than before.

For China to effectively address air pollution, and to ensure there are lasting blue skies over Jing-Jin-Ji, we would like to emphasize five points.