Beijing's effort to make the capital city's air healthier for 20 heads of state attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum appears to be paying off. Closing factories, offices, schools, and other establishments in the host city, as well as limiting the use of vehicles, resulted in better air quality compared with the previous weeks.

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The sky was brilliant blue, the air quality index significantly improved and cleaner air filled the lungs of people who happened to be in Beijing on Monday.

The scenario contrasted with the previous month when Beijing 's smog levels were considered "very unhealthy" or "hazardous" due to post-harvest season agricultural fires, weather pattern which trapped the polluted air in the city and higher production as factories ensured sufficient stock of products for the Oct. 1-7 National Day holiday.

According to Li Shuo, senior climate and energy policy officer of Greenpeace East Asia, the harsh measures are expected to cut pollution levels in the area by 30 to 40 percent. The measures include six-day furloughs for government and state-owned workers, which some private companies replicated.

Also shuttered ahead of the APEC Summit, which runs from Nov. 6 to 12, Beijing ordered the closure of more than 800 factories, hundreds of construction sites and imposed an odd-even scheme for private vehicles based on the last digit of the vehicle's plate number to determine which cars would be allowed inside the capital city.

The summit itself, to be attended by U.S. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, won't be in Beijing but by the shores of Yanqi Lake in Huairou District, an area almost 1,000 square miles which is two hours drive from the city centre.

Also arriving for the summit are 16,000 registered participants and thousands of journalists to cover the week-long event.

To further ensure cleaner air, flowers and trees were planted in Huairou, specifically pines which would remain green throughout November. Chang'an Avenue, a central thoroughfare, will have 450,000 flower pots, reports The Guardian.

In the past, the government never resorted to elevating the city's pollution alert level to "red" that would require the stringent measures being imposed now. This has prompted some Beijing residents to complain that the city government is concerned only about the health of visiting foreign leaders and not locals.

Li agrees, saying, "Safe air should not only be reserved for distinguished guests, but for every resident of the city ... It is a shame that Beijing hasn't initiated a single red alert for its own residents this year, despite three 'airpocalyses' that qualified as such by its own metrics."