Ecological Environment

The sky is bluer and the water is cleaner in Beijing.

After years of great efforts, blue skies can be seen through the diminishing dark brown shroud that has covered the city for decades. Stinky rivers are gradually getting cleaner because of massive cleaning and dredging projects. Beijing has implemented atmospheric pollution control measures in seven phases, resulting in the effective control of smog and the obvious curbing of the dust pollution. Greater efforts to control industrial pollution have been made.

In 2005, there were 234 days, or 64.1 percent of the whole year, with air quality reaching the Grade II standard or above in the urban areas. This is an increase of 15.7 percent when compared to 2000. In 2004, the density of sulphur dioxide met national standards for the first time. The discharge of sulphur dioxide and smoke dust was reduced 15 percent and 40 percent from that of 2000.

In the city's eight urban districts, 2.48 million cubic metres of wastewater was treated each day. In another words, 70 percent of the city's wastewater had been properly treated. Seventy kilometres of pipelines for recycled water have been constructed and 30 percent of this is being re-used. Also in the eight urban districts, 95.2 percent of garbage generated in daily life was properly treated. The afforestation rate reached 42.5 percent in the eight urban districts, an increase of 6.3 percentage points over 2000. Per capita public green space came to 11.1 square metres, an increase of 1 square metre over 2004 and an increase of 2.4 square metres over 2000.

In 2005, the control of other types of pollution was conducted in step with the protection and construction of a new, more modern ecological system. The quality of downstream water in the city has improved. The quality of the acoustic environment in the city remained stable. The qualities of ionization radiation and the electromagnetic radiation environment remained normal.

Meanwhile, smooth progress had been made in the control of sources of Beijing's and Tianjin's sandstorms and in the "grain for green" projects that convert cultivated land into forests. The establishment of the second green isolation belt is under way, as are reforestation projects to protect watersheds and agricultural water-saving projects. Three green ecological protective screens, just like three "green necklaces," are protecting and improving the quality of life in Beijing.

In 2005, 2,000 hectares of green lands were added to Beijing's green preserves, while 1,666.7 hectares of green lands were added to the green ecological protective screens in the city's plain areas along with another 7,000 hectares of green lands that were added to the green ecological protective screens in the city's mountainous areas. There are 20 natural reserves in Beijing, including one at the State-level, covering 1.34 square kilometres. The city also has seven national ecological demonstration zones that include 9,245.8 square kilometres of land.