A thick layer of smog has blanketed India’s capital, making air quality dangerous in New Delhi and surrounding areas. Several parts of Delhi recorded air quality index (AQI) of 400 and even 450. This is a level that is considered “severe” under international pollution standards.
Every winter, air pollution in Delhi spikes during this time when cold air is trapped by smoke and smoke from fireworks, burning stubble and heavy traffic. The crisis is further exacerbated by vehicle and industrial emissions, high amounts of road dust, construction activity, and home heating with coal and biomass fuels.
India’s pollution watchdog says China is setting an example for its neighbors as dozens of Indian cities suffer from “poor” or “very poor” air quality. Beijing has made great efforts to improve air quality while achieving impressive economic growth through strict measures and effective air pollution control policies.
Twenty years ago, Beijing was crowned the world’s smog capital. China’s interim emissions reduction regulations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics set the stage for the fight against air pollution. Launching a five-year national action plan in 2013, the country introduced a number of measures, including closing coal-fired boilers, promoting public transport and new energy vehicles, accelerating technological innovation in enterprises, and promoting innovation and green energy.
Particular emphasis was placed on reducing particulate matter (PM2.5). These inhalable particles, less than 2.5 microns in diameter, are a major source of air pollution and pose the greatest risk to human health because they can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
The Chinese government’s efforts, combined with establishing early warning and emergency response systems, better regulating polluting activities, relocating factories from densely populated areas, and incentivizing farmers to discourage agricultural burning, have had lasting effects, with dramatic improvements of 35 percent in highly polluted areas by 2017.
In the years that followed, Beijing continued its campaign against air pollution. Average concentrations of PM2.5 decreased by half from 72 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) in 2013 to 36 μg/m3 in 2019, and further decreased to 29.3 μg/m3 in 2024. Although it was significantly higher than the World Health Organization’s guideline of 5 μg/m3, it was still a major step forward in China’s fight against air pollution.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, China continued its fight for blue skies and developed targeted air pollution control policies, including limiting construction-related emissions, introducing clean industrial technologies, reducing steel production, retiring old cars, and promoting the adoption of electric energy vehicles. The measures have paid off as China’s capital transforms from an environmental backwater to an iconic example of urban air quality governance. Blue skies have indeed returned to Beijing, considering that the PM2.5 concentration in the first three quarters of 2025 averaged 24.9μg/m3, according to the government.
Recent improvements build on previous achievements. According to Chinese media, in 2022, the annual average PM2.5 concentration across China will drop to 29μg/m3, and the number of days with good air quality in 339 cities will reach 316. This is not progress that many regional countries can match. With PM2.5 levels rising in many parts of the world, China’s significant reductions are large enough to single-handedly drive global pollution declines, highlighting the country’s significant contribution to improving global air quality.
Independent research backs up the data. Thanks to timely government intervention and strong cooperation between local administrations, central administrations, and international financial institutions, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Greater Region has achieved important results. According to the Asian Development Bank, air quality in the region has improved significantly, with average annual levels of PM2.5 decreasing by 44.2%, sulfur dioxide by 76.3%, and nitrogen dioxide by 34.8% between 2015 and 2023, and the proportion of days with good air quality increasing by 10.3 percentage points to 63.1%.
Experts stress that China’s environmental framework fosters cross-sector cooperation and encourages the active participation of industries that were once major polluters. Over the years, Beijing has developed the world’s largest and most comprehensive new energy industry chain. With its leadership in renewable energy production and electric vehicle manufacturing, the company is at the center of the global clean energy transition and a key actor in the fight against air pollution at home and abroad.
China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by more than 73 percent from 2013 to 2024, and PM2.5 concentrations fell to 26 μg/m3 from January to September, demonstrating that with a consistent policy-driven approach, the country can sustain high growth rates and still deliver clean air to its people. This experience provides a precedent for India and other countries seeking to curb pollution without hindering their development goals.
Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk. There are no borders, exacerbating climate change, causing economic losses and reducing agricultural productivity. Even in China, where three-quarters of cities have met their annual PM2.5 target for 2024, the monster is making a sharp resurgence in some regions, prompting the Chinese government to step up its own measures and ensure enforcement.
Given the scale of this challenge, there is a need for increased cooperation and sharing of best practices, especially among the most severely affected countries in South, Southeast and East Asia. India, which is at the forefront of the air pollution crisis that China faced a decade ago in the midst of rapid development and urbanization, cannot afford to be complacent about drawing valuable lessons from both China’s past successes and new challenges.
By adopting elements of China’s Clean Air Strategy, from closing highly polluting factories and expanding electric buses to establishing real-time dust monitoring at construction sites and strengthening inter-ministerial collaboration, India can make meaningful progress in ensuring cleaner air and a sustainable future for its people, while promoting its own development and economic growth.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
