Beijing has listed smog as a meteorological disaster in line with the city government's efforts to further strengthen air pollution control measures.

With this recent move, smog will be included in the draft Beijing Meteorological Disasters Prevention and Control Regulation that is being reviewed by local authorities, China Daily reported.

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The proposed pollution prevention and control regulation defines a meteorological disaster as damage primarily caused by haze, torrential rains, blizzards, sandstorms, drought or freezing conditions.

With the inclusion of smog in the proposed regulation, the nation's capital would need to improve its urban planning, particularly the design of its green zones and corridors, as a strategy to reduce the damage caused by smog.

Liu Zhengang, chief of the Beijing Legal Affairs Office, noted that smog has become a major concern for both the government and the public sector.

As Beijing's works towards enhancing its air pollution control initiatives, Liu said that it should take a cue from neighboring Tianjin and Hebei province that have already listed smog in their anti-pollution regulations.

So far, the State Council has not yet declared smog as a meteorological disaster.

According to Liu, the Chinese capital has become prone to meteorological disasters, which if left unaddressed, can cause huge economic losses accounting for at least one to three percent of the area's GDP.

"About 70 percent of the natural issues hitting the capital were meteorological ones," said Zhou Heping, deputy director in charge of rural affairs of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

Based on data from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, the capital had a 46 percent reduction in the concentration of PM2.5 - a fine particulate matter that poses health risks - in 2015, as compared to 2013.

However, the concentration of PM2.5 still exceeded national health standards by 1.3 times last year, and the city's residents saw 46 days of hazardous pollution.

Under the draft anti-air pollution and control measure, Beijing authorities need to focus on re-arranging its green zones, rivers, and roads, and at the same time, build corridors to disperse air pollutants.

TagsBeijing, Beijing Air Pollution Control, Beijing Meteorological Disasters Prevention and Control Regulation