China mulling new air quality regulations

By Emma Graham-Harrison

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is considering new air quality regulations as it looks to build on its success clearing Beijing's skies during the Olympics, environmental officials from the capital said on Friday.

Beijing's claim to have guaranteed safe air to Olympic athletes and spectators has been questioned by some foreign experts, and a testing station set up by the U.S. embassy has highlighted dangers from pollutants China does not yet measure.

But in the year since the Games the capital has enjoyed extended periods in which the skies have appeared their cleanest for years and officials say they are still pushing for further improvements even without the scrutiny brought by the Games.

"We can see that there are many areas we still have to work hard on," Du Shaozhong, deputy head of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, told journalists on a tour of one of the city's air quality monitoring stations.

"One important area is not ceasing to strengthen laws and regulations; we must use the law to combat pollution. This is something for the local as well as central government," he added.

Du declined to comment directly on reports that the government was mulling tighter air pollution standards, but a colleague confirmed that changes might be on the cards.

"At the national level they have plans to do the revision, but because it is the national level it is not our work," said one environmental bureau official who declined to be named, adding that she did not know of any timeline for the change.

China has been criticized for not including two key pollutants in its air quality index -- ozone and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that scientists say damages the lungs and may also be able to seep into the bloodstream.