shenzhen has set a goal of keeping pm2.5 pollutants, fine particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller, below 33 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015 and 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2017, according to lin hanzhang, vice chairman of shenzhen's environmental commission.
in 2014, the pm2.5 average was 34 micrograms per cubic meter and the city's environmental authority said it has decreased over the past 10 years.
"the city's air quality is the best among 19 sub-provincial and provincial-level cities in 2014 and its smoggy days were reduced to 74 days last year," lin said.
lin made the remarks at a press conference organized by the information office of the shenzhen municipal government regarding the city’s achievements in environment, transportation, social security and urban administration.
though the air quality has been improved, the situation of river pollution isn't that satisfactory, though some efforts have been made in improving the condition of 14 rivers in the city.
vehicles are the biggest source of pm2.5 pollution in shenzhen, accounting for 41 percent of the total pollutants and emissions from heavy vehicles accounting for 48 percent of the total vehicle emissions.
the city will ban vehicles that fail emission standards, also known as yellow-label vehicles, on roads before the end of the year and introduce liquefied natural gas-powered trucks and new-energy buses and taxis. all the trucks in the city will be installed with a pollution collection device to reduce toxic emissions. ships at shenzhen port are encouraged to use low-sulfur fuel.
in terms of public transportation, xu zhongping, deputy chief of shenzhen transportation commission, said shenzhen will further expand bus lanes, promote customized bus services and fast transit service to satisfy the needs of commuters.
the city's pubic transport system handles about 10.22 million passengers a day, making it one of 11 cities in the world whose daily public transport passengers reach more than 10 million.
