BEIJING: China will learn “precious lessons” from its move to clear up Beijing’s notoriously smog-ridden skies ahead of an international summit, state media argued yesterday, as Internet users coined the derisive term “Apec blue”.
Beijing has pulled out all the stops in its effort to greet visitors with blue skies for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, when Chinese President Xi Jinping will host leaders from the United States, Russia and Japan among others.
Authorities in the Chinese capital have imposed tight limits on car use, ordered factories to close, and are giving public sector employees a six-day holiday, with some neighbouring areas also following suit with restrictions.
The move led to dazzling, clear skies in Beijing on Thursday, with levels of PM2.5 particulates, the smallest and most dangerous, falling to four micrograms per cubic metre — down from more than 400 during a stretch of heavy pollution last month.
By yesterday, the reading had risen back up to 60, with white skies again clouding the capital.
The government-led effort has triggered a backlash among the country’s social media users. A message circulating on the Chinese mobile messaging app WeChat this week defined the new phrase “Apec blue” as “something that is beautiful but fleeting and ultimately inauthentic”.AFP
