Final Meeting of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Regional Air Pollution Control Project Was Held Successfully

In order to study the innovation mode and development needs of agricultural investment mechanism, explore the application mode of Public-Private Partnership (PPP), and provide theoretical support and experimental experience for the innovation of government's agricultural investment mode, Asian Development Bank (ADB) hired Naree International Limited (NAREE) as a consulting firm to organize consultants to carry out the research project.

On December 12^th ,2017, the final meeting of the ADB Technical Assistance (TA) Project "Study on Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Regional Pollution Control" was successfully held in Beijing. Mr. Ben Bingham (the Chief representative of ADB), Ms. Maria Pia Ancora (the ADB Climate Change Specialist), ZHANG Haolong (the Deputy Director of the Department of Atmospheric Environmental Management of the Ministry of Environmental Protection), and Li Xiaohua (the Deputy Directorof the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection) attended the this meeting.The specialists from Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, Langfang Environmental Protection Bureau, Baoding Environmental Protection Bureau, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre, Tianjin Academy of Environmental Sciences, Hebei Academy of Environmental Protection Sciences, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing University of Technology, ADB and NAREE attended the meeting.

LEI Yu (the team leader of the consulting team and the deputy directorof the Atmospheric Environment Planning Department of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Environmental Protection) reported this year’s outcomes carried out by NAREE consulting team. As the most polluted area, the air quality in the BTH region has been improved significantly since the implementation of the "Ten Clause for Atmosphere". However, there is still a enormous gap between the air quality standards and the performance in the BTH region. Through the analysis of the current situation, cooperative mechanism and cooperative effect of air pollution prevention and control in Beijing, Tianjin, Langfang, Baoding, Tangshan and Cangzhou, the TA team put forward the proposal of Regional Cooperation Mechanism and Measures on air pollution prevention and control in BTH region. The team presented policy recommendations on “Mid- and Long-Term Planning of Air Pollution Prevention and Control in BTH Region” in four areas, including setting regional targets for improving air environment, strengthening policy framework for regional air quality management, improving pollution control measures and technologies, and Innovative Air Pollution Control Fund mechanism. In order to support capacity-building for the coordinated prevention and control of air pollutionin the BTH areas, NAREE was also responsible for organizing two trainings for the staffs of the environmental protection system in the project areas, and more than 180 representatives attended the lectures.

The ADB representative praised the achievements in air pollutioncontrol in the BTH region and expressed their continued concern and support for the improvement of the environment in BTH region. ZHANG Haolong acknowledged the research results of the project. He presented that the project team (NAREE) has made detailed evaluation and analysis of the current situation of airpollution control in BTH region, and the policy recommendations would be a great help for the future works. Li Xiaohua said that the future air quality control in the BTH region requires the international participation, the air quality target would be achieved through sharing successful international technologies, regulations and experiences. Representatives from international institutions such as the World Bank, Zhongde Renewable Energy Cooperation Centre, Asian Clean Air Center and the American Institute for the Future attended the meeting and contributed to regional air quality treatment.