Govt offers 5b yuan to fight pollution

The central government said on Monday it is offering a total of 5 billion yuan ($818 million) in financial rewards to Beijing and its neighboring provinces to fuel their fight against air pollution.

The Ministry of Finance announced that the special budget is up for grabs among Beijing, Tianjin and the surrounding areas of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where the air quality did not meet national standards for nearly two-thirds of August.

The cities with the worst air quality and those located in the surrounding areas of Beijing are higher on the priority list for receiving the special central government funding. At the end of the year, the central government will assess which region on the priority list made greater strides in reducing air pollution and allocate the special budgetary fund accordingly.