Majority of Chinese cities not satisfied with efforts to curb pollution

Residents urge more efforts to curb air pollution, according to a report released Friday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Evaluation of Chinese cities' basic public service capability, by analyzing results of 24,549 questionnaires, reveals the level of public satisfaction of basic public services in 38 major cities in China.

About 71.9 percent of respondents said they feel only "so-so", not satisfied or very unsatisfied with the efforts being made to curb air pollution, compared to only 28.1 percent respondents who are satisfied or very satisfied.

"Residents' attitude towards urban environment is worthy of attention at the time when smog engulfs Beijing in winter," said Li Chongfu, lead researcher with the Academy. "Even though evaluation of public service have improved compared to the last year, evaluation in different categories shows residents' concerns."

Li said that the survey conducted is a useful tool in that it connects strategic planning efforts to the services that citizens receive, and it tells us how the government is doing and shows what aspects need to be improved on.

Yin Luanyu, professor of China Academy of Social Management of Beijing Normal University said, "I felt that the essence of the study lies where researchers are able to know how residents feel about public service in their own cities, rather than subjective evaluation of policy makers, if residents living in Beijing are not satisfied with public service provided by the local government, then it should be improved somehow."