International recognition

In the past 10 years, Beijing has seen its annual average concentration of PM2.5 fall by about 6 mcg per cu m per annum. The United Nations Environment Programme has dubbed that progress the "Beijing miracle", according to Li Xiang, director of the bureau's atmospheric environment department.

The capital's pollution and carbon emissions reduction endeavors have also won wider international recognition. For example, the "Phasing out Coal in Beijing's Heating System" project was recognized as one of the world's 10 best climate programs at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October.

"Beijing is the first city in northern China that has essentially addressed pollution from the angle of coal consumption," Li said, adding that consumption in the city fell to about 1.3 million metric tons in 2021, compared with 21.8 million tons in 2012. Moreover, compared with 2012, carbon dioxide emissions in the capital per unit of GDP fell by 48 percent.

Based on the air pollution control experiences of the past 10 years, the bureau will make the synergizing of the reduction of pollution and carbon emissions the main focus of its efforts to further improve the capital's air quality, Li said.

As China works toward peaking carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the decade and becoming carbon neutral by 2060, many more measures are being rolled out in Beijing for even greener development.