North China's Hebei Province has set ambitious targets to cut air pollution as the annual session of its legislature opened on Friday. It will aim for a 40-percent cut in PM2.5 density by 2020 compared to 2013 levels, through slashing excessive industrial capacity such as iron and steel, said Hebei Governor Zhang Qingwei at the 12th Hebei Provincial People's Congress.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), the province hopes to see its cities removed from the official list of China's 10 most smoggy. It will treat emissions more effectively, said Zhang.
In November, six Hebei cities were in the top 10, including provincial capital Shijiazhuang. In 2015, average PM2.5 density in Hebei dropped 28.7 percent from 2013 to 77 micrograms per cubic meter, according to Zhang.
In recent years, the province has invested 24 billion yuan (3.66 billion U.S. dollars) in air pollution treatment and prevention, he added.
Hebei, which neighbors Beijing, is aiming to cut PM2.5 density by 6 percent or more year on year and reduce coal use by 5 million tonnes, iron and steel capacity by 18 million tonnes and cement production by 1.5 million tonnes in 2016. Over the past five years, the province has cut 75 million tonnes of iron and steel and 62 million tonnes of cement in terms of capacity.
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