Developing countries interested in China's air quality achievements

Many developing nations have shown great interest in China's experiences in significantly improving air quality in just a decade, according to Zhang Mengheng, director of the International Cooperation Center at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

She said the academy, the top environmental sciences institute in China, will strive to localize the country's experiences in other developing nations to help build a global community with a shared future.

When 85 military officers from all across the globe — who were in China for a workshop — visited the academy on Jan 19, Zhang said one of the topics they were most interested in was air quality management.

"Some officers said they had heard a lot about the severe air pollution in Beijing before they came to the capital," she said. "They said it was beyond their expectations to see blue sky instead of smog and were curious about how China achieved that."

The activity was scheduled to last from 9 am to 11 am, but was extended by half an hour as officers kept raising questions one after another, including some about other environmental issues, Zhang said.

Many officers asked for a copy of the presentation the academy prepared for a lecture for them on China's practices and progress in environmental protection.

Zhang said she also noticed strong interest in China's air pollution control experiences in Thailand during a visit to that country in October.

Many senior officials and business executives told her they were deeply impressed by the progress China had made in air pollution control and said they wanted to learn from its experiences, she said.

They raised very specific questions about China's blue sky protection campaign, including its approach to straw burning and petrol quality management, she said.

"They know what the problems are, but they don't have the technological means to address them, or have failed to find the proper paths to cope with them," Zhang said. "So they want to learn from China."

She said China's experiences could provide useful reference for other developing countries "in a development stage China has just gone through".

But those experiences needed to be localized so that they could cater to the actual needs and conditions in other countries.

Zhang said Chinese scientists' rich experience in coping with air pollution made it relatively easy for them to localize the country's air pollution control solutions in other developing countries.

"While promoting the Beautiful China Initiative, China has also called for the building of a global community with a shared future," she said. "So we are willing to share our experiences with the international community."