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Despite pledges in the last year to fight pollution, Beijing saw barely any improvement in air quality in 2013. The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau says the intensity¹ of major air pollutants³ remained much the same in 2013 as they were in the previous year.

The capital city looks very different when the air quality changes. And it changes often.

Beijing launched new standards for monitoring air quality in 2013. The results have not been encouraging.

Data collected from 35 monitoring stations across the city shows that air quality was good for less than half of the year. And more than 15% of the year has seen severe air pollution. Averaged out, that’s one day a week.

The major pollutant², the report says is PM2.5, airborne particulate⁴ matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, accounting⁵ for 77.8 percent — on most smoggy days. The average density⁶ of PM 2.5 particles is more than double national standards.

A report released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Monday said that from 2009 to 2010, secondary inorganic⁷ aerosols⁸ and industrial pollution accounted for half of Beijing’s PM2.5 pollution. It said vehicle emissions⁹ were only responsible for about 4 percent.

Beijing’s environment bureau disagrees. It says vehicle emissions are a major source of PM2.5 in Beijing.

"Vehicles burn up some 6 million tons of gasoline in Beijing alone. It all turns into exhaust gas at a low altitude. So the impact from vehicles cannot be only 4%." Fang¹⁰ Li, spokesperson for Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, said.

Beijing is far from the only city suffering heavy air pollution.

In neighboring Hebei province, where smog was also severe, local governments started to shut down the most polluting factories on Thursday. More than 150 are to be torn down during the first half of this year, aiming to reduce some 7,500 tons of dust pollution.

Nation-wide, gasoline and diesel¹¹ standards are now moving up to Phase 4, requiring all cars to use cleaner fuel.

"Under Phase-4, fuel must have a sulphur content of less than 50 parts per million. Phase-3 allowed for a sulphur content 150 parts per million. These pollutants will be cut by two thirds." Liu Shaolin, spokesperson for SINOPEC Hebei Branch, said.

The goal to reduce air pollution in a short period of time is challenging, but the head of the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center says stringent¹² measures are underway towards the goal.