Beijing would take 180 000 old vehicles off the road and replace coal-burning heaters in 44 000 homes in a bid to cut air pollutants by 2 percent this year, acting mayor Wang Anshun said yesterday.
The city had ordered official vehicles off the roads after pollution hit record levels this month.
A sensor at the US embassy in Beijing showed yesterday that levels of PM2.5, the fine airborne particulates that pose the greatest health risks, had risen to 382.
The World Health Organisation recommends 24-hour exposure to PM2.5 levels no higher than 25. – Bloomberg