Reference News Network, January 12 report. According to the Spanish website "ABC," professional media, the US electric vehicle website analyzed that the clear skies over Beijing are no longer an accidental meteorological phenomenon, but a concrete indicator of structural change. The air quality in the Chinese capital has reached its best historical record, which contrasts sharply with the current debate in Europe about relaxing the 2035 plan to gradually phase out fossil fuel vehicles.
Beijing used to be the most intuitive "symbol" of urban pollution around the world. Dense traffic, heavy industrial production activities, and geographical conditions unfavorable for pollutant dispersion have all contributed to the continuous accumulation of harmful particles in the city area.
In 2012, the local pollution situation reached a critical point. Since then, China has gradually shifted toward long-term environmental protection policies, moving away from previous fragmented solutions. The governance measures directly targeted the source of pollution, through the implementation of industrial emission restrictions, strict control of various pollutant emissions, and a series of initiatives to promote deep transformation of urban transportation models, fundamentally solving the pollution problem.
Data has confirmed the significant effectiveness of this governance strategy. Since Beijing started official air quality monitoring, the average concentration of PM2.5 in the city has dropped to the lowest level in history, with the annual air quality basically stable within the standard range, and severe pollution days have been significantly reduced.
The rapid popularization of electric vehicles has become an important factor. Within just five years, the Chinese automobile market has undergone a dramatic change, with new energy vehicles accounting for more than 50% of new car sales, up from a negligible share. This transformation has benefited from strict national regulations and the support of a complete domestic new energy vehicle industry chain.
In Beijing, the government has also accelerated the electrification of the transportation sector by implementing policies such as car purchase restrictions and driving restrictions on fuel vehicles. These measures have not only simultaneously reduced pollutant emissions and urban noise pollution, reduced the city's reliance on gasoline and diesel engines, but also significantly increased public transport usage rates.
Chinese big cities have made significant progress in decarbonizing the transportation sector, while the EU's performance pales in comparison, and the contrast between the two is becoming increasingly evident. Originally planned to completely ban the sale of fossil fuel vehicles by 2035, the EU now intends to relax this ban, a decision that casts uncertainty over the EU's climate goals.
Beijing's experience in pollution control fully demonstrates that large-scale electrification of the transportation sector can have direct and quantifiable positive impacts on urban ecological environment and residents' health. While the skies over Chinese cities are becoming increasingly clear, Europe faces the risk of slowing down the transition, and the benefits of transportation electrification have long gone beyond theoretical discussions and have become a tangible reality. (Translated by Han Chao)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7594358766749909547/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author themselves.