CHINA: Smog continues to plague Guangzhou despite government efforts to clean air before Asian Games

Record ID: 217023

  • Title: CHINA: Smog continues to plague Guangzhou despite government efforts to clean air before Asian Games
  • Date: 19th November 2010
  • Summary: GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA (NOVEMBER 18, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BUILDINGS BLANKETED IN SMOG TRAFFIC ENGINEERS STANDING ON ROOF TOP LOOKING AT AIR QUALITY SENSORS VARIOUS OF AIR QUALITY SENSORS HUANG ZUZHAO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF GUANGZHOU AIR QUALITY MONITORING CENTER TALKING TO ENGINEER SENSOR (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF GUANGZHOU AIR QUAL
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAG6PI3S2ZQEUXW4T3S55V9KMM
  • Story Text: Guangzhou, the host city of the 16th Asian Games, was blanketed in smog on Thursday (November 18).
    But the city government said the residents now can breathe easier as traffic restrictions and factory closures came into effect in the beginning of this month in a last ditch attempt to turn the often smoggy Chinese industrial powerhouse into a pollution-free venue for the Asian Games.
    Under the new rules cars are banned on alternate days depending on their license plate number, only taxis and Asian Games vehicles are exempt.
    The government hopes to take around 65 percent of the city's nearly two million cars off the roads, according to local media reports, and reduce emissions by two-thirds over the two months until the end of the Asian Para Games in mid-December.
    Most building work has also halted and almost all earth and cement works have been closed, along with a string of factories.
    Over the past two weeks, air quality in Guangzhou ranged between excellent and fairly good on China's index, said Huang Zuzhao, deputy director of the Guangzhou Air Quality Monitoring Center, and he pledged good conditions would continue.
    "There hasn't been a single day so far in November that didn't meet the national standards. There used to be several days in November that didn't meet the standards in the past years. So we can say there has been obvious improvement," said Huang.
    However, none of these figures cited by Huang have been independently verified, and the electronic board carrying air quality data outside the center still showed the pollution indicators from the previous day. system.scripts.
    Residents in Guangzhou said the air pollution has eased but not as much as the government has promised.
    "It seems there has been less dust lately in the air than before. Today counts as an ok day after the Asian Games began, it was worse before. It is still smoggy today, but not as bad as before," said local resident Li Congshu.
    "I don't really feel any change. I walk around here often, because my office is here. To be honest, I don't feel an obvious improvement, maybe I just didn't pay attention," said another citizen Wang Peng.
    Dirty air was one of the biggest worries in the run-up to the Games that run from Nov 12-27 and host around 10,000 athletes from 45 countries.
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