CHINA: Beijing pollution reaches dangerous levels

Record ID: 217053

  • Title: CHINA: Beijing pollution reaches dangerous levels
  • Date: 27th March 2014
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MARCH 27, 2014) (REUTERS) SKYLINE VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC DRIVING IN FRONT OF SMOG CARS DRIVING THROUGH SMOG SKYLINE PEOPLE WALKING ON PEDESTRIAN WALK AND WEARING FACE MASKS WOMAN WEARING FACE MASK WALKING INTO UNDERPASS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 40 YEAR-OLD MERCHANT TANG JIN, SAYING: "When I see this kind of weather I'm not happy. And actually, this weather
  • Embargoed: 11th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Reuters ID: LVA6SPLXRIRKBGB6C2HOU3N6NPMR
  • Story Text: Pollution levels in Beijing climbed to dangerous heights on Thursday (March 27), causing residents to worry about their health.
    Beijing's official air quality index (AQI), which measures airborne pollutants including particulate matter and sulphur dioxide, peaked to readings of over 400 on Thursday.
    A level of 300 is considered dangerous while the World Health Organisation recommends a daily level of no more than 20.
    Beijing's index routinely exceeds 300, and sometimes hits levels above 500.
    Many Beijing residents took to wearing face masks as pollution levels peaked in the afternoon.
    Forty-year-old resident Tang Jin said that she does not feel safe from the bad air even when wearing a face mask inside her office.
    "When I see this kind of weather I'm not happy. And actually, this weather can affect my health, and I've been sick for the past two days. Although I wear a face mask, I still think it seems as if there's no improvement (from wearing one). I hope...how do you say it--maybe this environment is not Beijing's problem, but perhaps that of the surrounding areas. Everyone must do their best (to improve it)," she said.
    Office worker Liu Jian said that it's hard for people outside of Beijing to imagine how bad the smog can get.
    "If I'm on a business trip outside of the city, has this positive image of Beijing. You could say that if you don't live in Beijing, you may not know that the smog here is really that bad. If you're outside of this city, everyone says that they need to go to Beijing to look for themselves, as whatever pollution there is must not be a big deal. But when you actually come to Beijing, and you see everyone wearing face masks, what do you think? More or less, if you think enough about it, this air is bad for your body. It's this kind of situation," said Liu.
    Chinese regulators told the country's two largest insurers to stop selling policies against smog, a week after such policies were launched, the state-run English newspaper the China Daily reported on Thursday.
    The newspaper did not say why the country's insurance watchdog had ordered People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) and Ping An Insurance Group to cease sales.
    The country's worsening air quality is at the top of the list of concerns of China's leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model.
    The smog enveloping Beijing is choked by traffic and surrounded by the big and heavily polluted industrial province of Hebei.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register