Notice of the State Council on Issuing the “Action Plan for Continuous Improvement of Air Quality”

This action plan is formulated in order to continue to deepen the battle to defend the blue sky, effectively protect the health of the people, and promote high-quality economic development through continuous improvement of air quality.

1. Overall requirements

(1) Guiding ideology. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, implement the deployment of the National Ecological Environmental Protection Conference, adhere to the general tone of the work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and coordinately promote carbon reduction, Pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth focus on improving air quality, focusing on reducing heavily polluted weather and solving outstanding atmospheric environmental problems around the people, focusing on reducing the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and vigorously promoting nitrogen oxidation. reduce emissions of chemicals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs); carry out regional coordinated governance, highlight precise, scientific, and law-based pollution control, improve the atmospheric environment management system, and enhance pollution prevention and control capabilities; combine long- and near-term research to plan air pollution prevention and control paths, and solidly promote industry, energy , green and low-carbon transformation of transportation, strengthen non-point source pollution control, strengthen source prevention and control, accelerate the formation of green and low-carbon production and lifestyle, and achieve win-win environmental, economic and social benefits.

(2) Key areas

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas. Including Beijing City, Tianjin City, Hebei Province’s Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Handan, Xingtai, Baoding, Cangzhou, Langfang, Hengshui City, Xiongan New District, Xinji, and Dingzhou City, Shandong Province’s Jinan, Zibo, Zaozhuang, Dongying, Weifang, Jining, Tai'an, Rizhao, Linyi, Dezhou, Liaocheng, Binzhou, Heze City, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Pingdingshan, Anyang, Hebi, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, Puyang, Xuchang, Luohe, Sanmenxia, ​​Shangqiu, Zhoukou City and Jiyuan City in Henan Province .

Yangtze River Delta region. Including Shanghai City, Jiangsu Province, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Zhoushan City in Zhejiang Province, Hefei, Wuhu, Bengbu, Huainan, Ma'anshan, Huaibei, Chuzhou, Fuyang, Suzhou, Lu'an, and Bozhou City in Anhui Province.

Fenwei Plain. Including Taiyuan, Yangquan, Changzhi, Jincheng, Jinzhong, Yuncheng, Linfen, Luliang City in Shanxi Province, Xi'an, Tongchuan, Baoji, Xianyang, Weinan City in Shaanxi Province, as well as Yangling Agricultural High-tech Industry Demonstration Zone and Hancheng City.

(3) Target indicators. By 2025, the PM2.5 concentration in cities at the prefecture level and above across the country will drop by 10% compared to 2020, and the ratio of days with severe and above pollution will be controlled within 1%; the total emissions of nitrogen oxides and VOCs will each drop by more than 10% compared to 2020. The PM2.5 concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas and the Fenwei Plain dropped by 20% and 15% respectively. The PM2.5 concentration in the Yangtze River Delta region generally reached the standard, and was controlled within 32 micrograms/cubic meter in Beijing.

2. Optimize the industrial structure and promote the green upgrading of industrial products

(4) Resolutely curb the blind launch of high-energy-consuming, high-emission, and low-level projects. New reconstruction and expansion projects strictly implement national industrial planning, industrial policies, ecological environment zoning control plans, planning environmental assessments, project environmental assessments, energy conservation reviews, production capacity replacement, total control of key pollutants, regional reduction of pollutant emissions, carbon emission peak targets, etc. Relevant requirements, in principle, use clean transportation methods. For projects involving production capacity replacement, new projects can only be put into operation after the replaced production capacity and its supporting facilities are shut down.

New steel production capacity is strictly prohibited. Promote the integrated layout of steel, coking and sintering, significantly reduce independent coking, sintering, pelletizing and hot-rolling enterprises and processes, eliminate backward coal washing production capacity; orderly guide the transformation of blast furnace-converter long-process steelmaking into electric furnace short-process steelmaking . By 2025, short-process steelmaking output will account for 15%. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas continue to implement "steel-based coking", and the ratio of coking capacity to long-process steelmaking capacity is controlled at around 0.4.

(5) Accelerate the withdrawal of backward production capacity in key industries. Revise the "Guidance Catalog for Industrial Structural Adjustment" and study the inclusion of processes and equipment whose pollutant or greenhouse gas emissions are significantly higher than the industry average and have low energy efficiency and clean production levels into the elimination and restricted lists. Key areas will further improve energy consumption, environmental protection, quality, safety, technology and other requirements for backward production capacity, and gradually withdraw from restricted gas-related industry processes and equipment; phase out step-by-step sintering machines and pellet shaft furnaces, as well as semi-closed silicon-manganese alloys, Ferronickel, high carbon ferrochromium, high carbon ferromanganese electric furnace. Guide the orderly adjustment and optimization of steel, coking, electrolytic aluminum and other industries in key areas.

(6) Comprehensively carry out the upgrading and transformation of traditional industrial clusters. Cities where small and medium-sized traditional manufacturing companies are concentrated must formulate development plans for gas-related industry clusters, strictly implement project approvals, and strictly prevent pollution from going to the countryside. We will formulate special rectification plans for existing industrial clusters, eliminate and close down some, move some into parks, renovate some on-site, and make some better and stronger in accordance with the law. All localities should combine the characteristics of industrial clusters and build centralized heating centers, centralized spraying centers, centralized organic solvent recovery and disposal centers, and centralized activated carbon regeneration centers according to local conditions.

(7) Optimize the structure of raw and auxiliary materials and products containing VOCs. Strictly control the production and use of high-VOCs content coatings, inks, adhesives, cleaning agents and other construction projects, and increase the proportion of low (no) VOCs-content products. Implement the source substitution project and increase the substitution of raw and auxiliary materials with low (no) VOCs content in the industrial coating, packaging, printing and electronics industries. Outdoor structure protection and urban road trafficMonitoring and pollution emission data, pollution control measures, environmental protection violations, penalties and rectification information, etc. Enterprises that produce and import motor vehicles and non-road mobile machinery shall disclose environmental information such as emission inspections and pollution control technologies in accordance with the law.

(38) Strengthen publicity, guidance and international cooperation. Extensively publicize and interpret relevant policies and measures, vigorously popularize basic concepts and knowledge about atmospheric environment and health, and enhance citizens’ awareness of atmospheric environment protection and health literacy. Strengthen international cooperation in atmospheric environment management and desertification prevention and control. Promote China's air pollution control technology and experience, and practical technologies and models for desertification prevention and control, and tell China's ecological and environmental protection story well.

(39) Implement nationwide action. Mobilize all sectors of society to participate in atmospheric environmental protection. The government takes the lead in green procurement and fully uses products with low (no) VOCs content. Improve the reporting reward mechanism and encourage the public to actively provide clues to environmental violations. Central enterprises take the lead in guiding green production and promoting pollution control and emission reduction. Strengthen citizens’ environmental awareness, promote a simple, moderate, green, low-carbon, civilized and healthy lifestyle, and jointly improve air quality.