APEC blue

APEC blue (Chinese: APEC蓝) refers to the rare blue sky in Beijing during APEC China 2014 due to emission reduction campaign directed by Chinese government. Because of its transience, the new phrase "APEC blue" also refers to something wonderful but also fleeting.

According to the China Daily, "APEC blue" tops Beijing environmental keywords for 2014, top 10 new expressions of the year, and is waiting for the hottest word of the year.

The current situation of China’s air quality is quite concerning: Less than 1% of China’s 500 cities have reached the air quality standard recommended by the World Health Organization. Among the 10 most polluted cities in the world, China has seven.

In Jan 2013, only five days were not occupied by haze and fog. In Oct 2014, the air quality index in Beijing reached a peak of 470, far beyond the severe pollution level of 300; meanwhile, the situation was even more serious in the neighboring province of Hebei, whose PM2.5 particles climbed above 500 micrograms per cubic meter—northern China was blanketed by the heavy air pollution, forcing the Chinese authorities to raise its pollution alert from yellow to orange, which was the second highest.

NOTES:

(The recommended exposure according to the WHO is 25. PM2.5 particles lodge deep inside the lungs and are considered the most dangerous kind of air pollution to human health)

APEC is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific region.

The APEC meeting was scheduled to be held in Beijing in November 2014, a city that is seriously polluted by haze and fog. The authorities were in a rush to clear the haze and fog in Beijing for APEC within a month.

During APEC in 2014, a set of comprehensively strict measures on controlling air pollution were carried out.

President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli were directly in charge of the clean-up campaign . Xi and Li issue a set of written instructions while Zhang monitor the anti-smog campaign in the fight of curbing air pollution. In addition, 434,000 cadres in Beijing and nearby provinces and municipalities, including Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and inner Mongolia, were involved in the inspection work.

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