Capital plans to beat smog by 2030

Beijing reached its annual target for reducing hazardous pollutants in 2015 and is drafting a long-term plan to improve air quality to the clean level by around 2030, the municipal environmental watchdog said on Monday.

In 2015, the capital saw 186 days with air quality that was better than the national safety standard, 14 days more than the number in 2014, said the annual report on air pollution control from the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau on Monday.

Additionally, from the detailed data on hazardous pollutants, the annual average reading in Beijing of PM2.5 - airborne particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 microns that can penetrate the lungs and harm health - fell to 80.6 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015, the report said.