Recently, Zhou Shengxian, minister of environmental protection of China, said on 2013 Eco International Forum held in Guiyang, that the environmental protection ministry is to announce an action plan drawn up by the State Council at the end of July. The "Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Action Plan" will mainly focus on the control of PM 2.5 and also cover controls for overcapacity and energy structure upgrades to fight against pollution.

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PM is known as particulate matter. They are tiny pieces of solid or liquid matter associated with the Earth's atmosphere. They are suspended in the atmosphere as atmospheric aerosol, a term which refers to the air mixture, as opposed to the particulate matter alone.

Nowadays, PM 2.5 has become a severe air pollution problem in many major cities of China. As these particles are smaller than 2.5 micrometers, they tend to penetrate into the gas exchange regions of the lung. And the even smaller particles may pass through the lungs to affect other organs, which will cause serious influence to human's health.

According to Zhou Shengxian, the "Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Action Plan" calls for strictly controlling sectors that produce large amounts of waste and pollution, as well as strengthening efforts to eliminate outdated technology in the steel, cement and electrolytic aluminum industries. The action plan is called "the most stringent" plan in Chinese history for preventing and treating air pollution. Chinese government will invest 1.7 trillion yuan for air pollution control. The State Council has approved the action plan in June. Now, Chinese minister of environmental protection emphasizes the plan again, which means the remarkable action plan is going to come into force.

Chinese government will continue energy restructuring efforts, as coal burning is a major source of air pollution. Supplies of clean energy such as natural gas and methane will be increased and construction projects that fail to pass environmental evaluations will not be allowed to continue. Zhou Shengxian added.