As China unveiled its thirteenth Five Year Plan, which emphasizes on reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption, Mark Zukerberg was seen running through Tiananmen Square as part of his 'A Year of running' campaign.

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In January, Zuckerberg announced that he plans to run for 365 miles in 2016. His run at Tiananmen Square marks 100 miles of that journey. While Zuckerberg has been widely applauded for his efforts to inspire healthier lifestyles, he has received some criticism over not wearing a mask during the run.

The Facebook group page dedicated to the campaign is brimming with diversity and has pictures of marathons held besides the pyramids of Cairo, Guatemala in Central America, the busy streets of Tokyo, Jerusalem, Rome and many other cities. On Friday, March 18, Zuckerberg shared his photos at Tiananmen square.

"It's great to be back in Beijing!" he wrote on his Facebook page. "I kicked off my visit with a run through Tiananmen Square, past the Forbidden City and over to the Temple of Heaven."

Although the post has been liked by more than 200,000 peope, Zuckerberg has also been widely criticized for not wearing a smog mask while running through the notoriously polluted Chinese city. The air pollution index of the city was reportedly deep into the hazardous range on Friday at about fifteen times the safe level denoted by the World Health Organization.  

Some Chinese citizens social media have lambasted Zuckerberg for 'trying too hard' to coax the government into lifting the ban on Facebook. Others criticized him over the choice of location for his run as Tiananmen Square has a bloody history of witnessing the June 4 Massacre of 1989.   

However, amidst all the controversy, Zuckerberg's 'A Year of Running' group continues to gain support from fitness enthusiast all over the world.  

China is taking action on the pollution issue and its new latest five Year Plan has high ambitions about cutting carbon emissions.

With the release of the plan, the country has taken its first step towards achieving its Paris Agreement Pledge to reduce carbon intensity 60-65 percent by 2030. Looking at the success of China's Twelfth Five Year Plan, these targets do not seem unattainable for the country that surpassed Germany as No. 1 in solar capacity in 2015.

Who knows next time Zuckerberg runs in China, perhaps there would not be any need to wear protective masks.

TagsA Year of Running, Mark Zuckerberg