Beijing refutes WSJ report on air quality
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Two years after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the city's air quality continues to improve instead of degrading from the 2008 level, a Beijing environmental official said Wednesday.
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Beijing Blue Sky Days [Ministry of Environmental Protection of China] |
Du Shaozhong, spokesman of Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (Beijing EPB), made the remarks in response to a Wall Street Journal report which says that Beijing is facing environmental degradation after 2008 Olympic Games.
The report quoted US government research as saying that the Beijing government managed to improve the air quality by 30% during the games, compared to year-earlier readings. But a year after the games, about 60% of those gains had evaporated.
Du dismissed the data as groundless.
According to Du, more than 50% pollutants had been reduced during the games, instead of the 30 percent in the US report and Beijing's air quality has been improving gradually since the games.
In 2009, 285 days had reached the air quality standard in Beijing, 11 days more than in 2008, the year of Olympic Games, data from Beijing EPB shows.
In 2010, Beijing reached the "blue sky day" target of 266 before December.
