Shanghai unveils new measures to combat air pollution

Shanghai is to implement new measures to help curb its air pollution crisis, after it was revealed that the major city is one of the worst in China for air pollution.

The city is regarded by many as China's commercial capital, yet it currently ranks 48th among the 74 Chinese cities that adopted a new national air quality monitoring system in 2013.

The city’s annual PM2.5 density (the particles of smog and hazardous material in the air) is nearly double the national standard, with Shanghai ranking far lower than the country's capital and fellow major business centre, Beijing.

However, in a bid to curb this issue and improve its standing among not only Chinese cities, but global hubs, Shanghai has this week introduced emergency measures to tackle air pollution.

These will allow it to shut schools and order cars off the road in the case of severe smog - a response to the record levels of smog that enveloped the city last month, when the government warned children and the elderly in the city to stay at home on some days.

According to reports from the news agency Xinhua, the special emergency pollution plan was quickly reviewed and approved, with officials now targeting levels closer to those seen in Beijing, which has reported a relatively clear atmosphere in recent times.

Last year, Shanghai’s annual average PM2.5 density was 60.7 micrograms per square metre, compared to the national standard of 35, though certain months saw levels spike, particularly December, when PM2.5 density reached 421 micrograms per square metre at one point, which is five times the daily standard of 75.

At the time, Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau director Zhang Quan claimed that around 20 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution in Shanghai is from other provinces, though the reading still prompted local authorities to take urgent action to curb air pollution; measures that will become increasingly common as the process of tackling the problem continues.