Beijing Unveils Five-Year Plan to Tackle Air Pollution

(Beijing) — Beijing plans to have 30% fewer PM2.5 pollutants in its air by 2020.

In a draft version of the city's 13th five-year environmental protection (or "135") plan released Tuesday, the municipal government said it also hopes to see at least 204 blue-sky days annually by 2020.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported this January that in 2015, China's capital had 186 blue-sky days, on which the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) reading was 100 or lower. The AQI scale ranges from zero to 500, with zero representing the least pollution. China's Ministry of Environmental Protection considers a reading below 100 to be "good," and anything under 50 to be "excellent."