The situation of New Delhi now, is said to be reminiscent of Beijing, the capital of China in the early 2010 when it was dealing with their worse air pollution crisis, where the smog reached “airpocalypse” levels and PM2.5 concentrations were surpassing 500 μg/m³, over 50 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s annual guideline of 10 μg/m³.
Delhi has been battling with some of the worst pollution crises in recent history, with the AQI crossing over 400 in various regions.
For the unversed, AQI is the Air Quality Index, which states how good the air quality of a particular place is. A score of 0 to 50 comes under ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 indicates ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 is categorised ‘severe’.
According to reports, China has now managed to control the situation and reduce pollution levels. Here, we examine 10 measures taken by the Chinese government that helped mitigate their pollution crisis.
How Did China Manage To Control Its Pollution?
1. Vehicle emissions control
Yu Jing, the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in India, on /XTwitter listed out some steps that Beijing took to improve air quality.
Jing’s first step involved transport and vehicle control. She wrote, “Adopt ultra-strict regulations like China 6NI (on par with Euro 6). Phase-out retired old, high-emission vehicles. Curb car growth via license-plate lotteries and odd-even/weekday driving rules Build one of the world’s largest metro and bus networks. Accelerate the shift to electric mobility. Work with the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region on coordinated emissions cuts.”
2. Industrial Restructuring
The second one took a look at the industrial sector. Jing, in a tweet on December 17, 2025, wrote, “Shut down or remove 3000+ heavy industries. Relocating Shougang, one of China’s largest steelmakers, alone cut inhalable particles by -20%. Transform vacated factories into parks, commercial zones, cultural and tech hubs. e.g. The former Shougang site became 2022 Winter Olympics venue. Relieve non-capital functions by relocating wholesale markets, logistics hubs and some educational & medical institutions. Coordinate regional integration by shifting general manufacturing to Hebei, while retaining high-value R&D and services in Beijing.”
3. Coal Reduction
Jing’s third step to control air pollution is to reduce the use of coal. She wrote, “Coal combustion was once a major source of Beijing’s air pollution. To address this, the city launched a targeted transition: Shift over 1 million rural households and all urban areas from coal heating to cleaner electricity or natural gas. Shut down four major coal-fired power plants and replace with natural gas–fired stations. Upgrade small highly polluting coal boilers with larger, cleaner, and more efficient systems. Implement “Coal-banning” policies across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to curb cross-border pollution. Imports cleaner power from neighboring provinces.”
She further explained how “By 2025, Beijing’s coal consumption dropped from over 21 million tonnes (2012) to less than 600,000 tonnes, accounting for under 1% of the city’s total energy use.”
Read More: Air Pollution Is Leading To An Economic Crisis In India
4. Large Scale Action
Anumita Roy Chaudhuri, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, explained that the only reason China saw positive results is that instead of changes being implemented in just a singular region, action was taken on a large scale.
She said, “In China, action was not taken just in Beijing but in 26 cities and towns to tackle the problem, which is regional. The first lesson is that the actions they took were urgent, stringent, and at a large scale. They took deep to enable massive energy transition, like getting rid of coal not only in industry but also in household use. Beijing also capped the number of cars that can be sold in a year even as it created infrastructure for public transport. We will find similarities in our plans for Delhi-NCR but the scale is missing.”
5. Low Emission Zones (LEZs)
As per an ICLEI report, the creation of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) is considered to be a very important part of the country’s fight to reduce pollution. Specific areas marked as LEZs would have restrictive access for high-emission vehicles, encouraging the adoption of cleaner and more sustainable transport options. This is said to have helped in improving local air quality.
6. Monitoring and Real-Time Supervision
China built a sophisticated air quality monitoring network with hundreds of stations, satellite data integration and public reporting tools. Around 1,500 stations provided real-time PM2.5 data, and apps like “Blue Sky” were promoted for public tracking.
7. Expansion of Public Transport
China further expanded urban public transport infrastructure, including metro networks, bus fleets and dedicated transit corridors, making cleaner commuting alternatives widespread and affordable. This shift reduced reliance on private cars.
8. Early Warning, Emergency Response, and Incentives
Along with launching a five-year national action plan in 2013 and ensuring a strong coordination between local and central administrations, Beijing also established an early warning and emergency response system.
Further, they introduced incentives for farmers that would encourage them to avoid burning agricultural waste. All this helped to bring down the pollution level in some of the heavily impacted areas by 35% by 2017.
9. Industrial Restructuring and Shutdowns
A cornerstone of China’s pollution strategy was the closure, removal or relocation of thousands of heavy, polluting industries. Over 2,000 heavy factories, some of the largest steel plants, were moved out of urban areas or closed, cutting industrial particulate emissions.
Vacated industrial sites were not left idle, with many transformed into public parks, cultural hubs or commercial spaces, reducing local emission sources while creating community value, like the Shougang site in Beijing.
10. Afforestation and Green Infrastructure
Planting millions of trees and preserving green spaces helped reduce dust, absorb pollutants and improve overall air quality. China’s sprawling afforestation programmes, such as the Great Green Wall and others, boosted technical and regulatory pollution controls with natural mitigation.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Mint, Deccan Herald, Al Jazeera
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: india, india pollution crisis, delhi, delhi pollution, delhi pollution crisis, delhi AQI, china, china pollution, china pollution crisis
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