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Article

Research on Evolution and Recommendations of China’s PM2.5 and O3 Pollution Control Policies under the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Targets

by
Yuecheng Jian
1,
Yanshan Gao
1,
Xinyu Cao
1,
Nana Peng
1,*,
Chao Yang
2,*,
Xiaoxiu Lun
1 and
Qiang Wang
1
1
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, No. 35 Qinghuadong Road, Beijing 100083, China
2
School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6641; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156641 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 11 June 2024 / Revised: 19 July 2024 / Accepted: 31 July 2024 / Published: 3 August 2024
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Abstract

:
In recent years, the issue of PM2.5 and O3 pollution in China has gradually become a hot topic in air pollution control. Powerful, precise, and clear policies are important to guide the efficient control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. However, research on PM2.5 and O3 pollution policies is very limited. Moreover, these reports have failed to identify all the specific characteristics of the PM2.5 and O3 pollution policies in China, leading to inefficient control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Therefore, based on the external features and internal structures of relevant policy documents, this paper conducts a detailed bibliometric analysis to elucidate the evolution of PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies in China. The results reveal the following: (1) The PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies in China exhibit a characteristic of “top-down cross-level response lag”, transitioning from individual pollutant control to coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. (2) The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment have been the two major policy issuers in China’s government, focusing on “Technology” and “Monitoring”, respectively. However, the aforementioned policies are mainly implemented by local governments, with limited interregional cooperation but an overemphasis on enterprise pollution control and emergency systems. (3) In terms of policy instruments, supply- and environment-oriented policy instruments are predominant, whereas demand-oriented policy instruments are inadequate. Therefore, it is suggested to utilize the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon mitigation to achieve the goal of the “dual carbon” strategy, enhance public participation to strengthen cooperation among diverse stakeholders, strengthen cross-regional cooperation to overcome governance barriers, and reasonably optimize the use of policy instruments to form an effective combination of policy instruments.

1. Introduction

China’s energy structure still largely relies on coal due to the lack of petroleum and natural methane [1]. With the rapid development of the economy and industry, China’s coal consumption has been steadily increasing, leading to severe air pollution [2,3,4]. In addition, substantial emissions from automobile exhaust further aggravate air pollution in China [5,6]. Currently, the primary air pollutants in China are PM2.5 and O3 [7,8]. PM2.5 and O3 pollutants not only decrease ambient air quality but, more importantly, severely threaten human health, causing issues such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases [9,10]. Therefore, the health and environmental risks associated with PM2.5 and O3 have attracted widespread attention in recent years [11,12]. With the promulgation of air quality control policies such as the “Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution” and the “Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense”, significant improvements have been observed in reducing PM2.5 emissions. The national average concentration of PM2.5 has gradually decreased by approximately 6.5 μg/m3 from 2015 to 2017 [13]. However, in recent years, the O3 concentration in China has been steadily increasing, which not only causes severe O3 pollution but also enhances the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere, leading to the formation of secondary pollutants such as SO42− and NO3−.
Industrial, mobile, and residential sources are the three major sources of PM2.5 and O3 pollutants, while NOx and VOCs are the two major precursors of PM2.5 and O3 pollutants [14,15,16]. Consequently, composite pollution events of PM2.5 and O3 have become more frequent in many regions, especially the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, the Sichuan Basin, and other areas [17,18,19,20]. It is evident that the pattern of air pollution in China has gradually shifted from single-pollution to multi-pollution. Furthermore, PM2.5 and O3 exhibit characteristics of long-distance transmission and strong secondary pollution diffusion, causing the obvious cross-regional transmission phenomenon of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. For instance, the contribution of non-local vehicle emissions to atmospheric PM2.5 has rapidly increased by 38% from non-haze days to hazy days [21]. Additionally, the regional transport of O3 in East China is more prominent in the autumn [22]. Overall, PM2.5 and O3 pollution in China is characterized by combined pollution and interregional transmission.
Powerful, precise, and clear policy guidance plays an important role in the control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution [23,24]. In response to environmental pollution problems, governments worldwide have implemented a variety of control policies aimed at mitigating air pollution. For instance, in the United States, vehicle emissions tax and petrol tax policies have been successfully employed to control motor vehicle exhaust emissions [25]. The odd–even car trial scheme implemented by the Government of India in 2016 effectively reduced PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations to 74% of the 2015 levels [26]. Korea has further emphasized the strategy of VOCs in policy documents in order to deal with O3 and PM2.5 pollution problems [27]. Similarly, China is also facing significant challenges related to air pollution. Based on international experience, the effective implementation of policies has been confirmed to have a very positive impact on significant improvements in air quality, particularly in the emission control of major pollutants such as PM2.5 and O3. This underlines the key role of effective policy implementation in improving the environment. To address the challenges associated with PM2.5 and O3 pollution, both China’s central and local governments have enacted a series of policies and measures [28,29]. However, current research on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies in China is relatively limited and still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of fragmentation, preventing the formation of a clear and systematic development framework and thus hindering the formulation and evaluation of subsequent policies. Additionally, cross-regional joint prevention and control [30,31], the so-called intergovernmental cooperative governance, is a vital measure to alleviate regional PM2.5 and O3 compound pollution [32,33]. Due to issues such as administrative autonomy, division, and low governance efficiency among administrative regions, cross-regional intergovernmental cooperative governance has become a major challenge in air pollution management. Therefore, quantifying the development pattern of PM2.5 and O3 pollution and the characteristics of intergovernmental cooperative governance in China and obtaining objective, reproducible, and reliable research results are urgently required for more efficient control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution.
Policy documents serve as the materialization of the governance concepts of a government, represent the imprints of government actions, and provide obtainable and traceable objective records of the policy implementation process [34,35]. Quantitative analyses of policy documents are conducted using methods such as statistics and bibliometrics to fully explore semantic information in the documents. This approach provides objective, reproducible, and reliable analysis, allowing for the examination of policy evolution, intergovernmental relationships, policy differences, and more [36]. Currently, PM2.5 and O3 pollution has emerged as a pressing global issue, with China facing particularly severe challenges due to the combined PM2.5 and O3 pollution. The significance of policy documents as pivotal tools for advancing air pollution control is undeniable. Nevertheless, it is regrettable that few studies have conducted in-depth analyses of China’s specific policies addressing PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Therefore, this work employs a quantitative analysis of policy documents to (1) analyze the evolution and development trends of China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies, (2) clarify the development status of intergovernmental cooperation governance based on the two dimensions of external characteristics and internal structure of policy document, and (3) to propose shortcomings and recommendations for China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Data Collection

On the official websites of both the central and local governments, as well as Peking University Faber, Tsinghua University Policy documents Database, and other relevant platforms, “particulate matter”, “fine particulate matter”, “PM2.5”, “Ozone”, and “O3” were generally used as the keywords for conducting full-text searches. The policy documents were collected according to the following three principles: (1) Policy documents published by the central and local governments from 1949 to 2022 were selected. (2) The content of the policy documents should be closely related to the control of atmospheric PM2.5 and O3 emissions, reflecting the government’s attitudes and control measures. Policy documents unrelated to the control of atmospheric PM2.5 and O3 pollution, such as those concerning the PM associated with solid waste and water pollution treatment and those concerning ozone holes in the application of specific industries, were excluded. (3) The types of policy documents were classified according to the Regulations on the Handling of Official Documents by Party and Government Organs, encompassing 15 categories such as laws, regulations, plans, opinions, methods, notices, views, announcements, and regulations, while excluding speeches by leaders, department reports, and procedural documents. Finally, a total of 2481 policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control in China were collected and organized, including 209 central policy documents and 2272 local policy documents, to establish a database of PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy documents in China.
In order to explore the impact of the “dual carbon” strategy on the evolution of China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies, the keywords “carbon peak”, “carbon neutral”, “carbon reduction”, and “dual carbon” were used to collect the PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy documents after 2020. Finally, 31 central policy documents and 558 local policy documents, accounting for 63.26% and 68.05% of the total number of PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy documents after 2020, respectively, were obtained. It should be noted that there are 24 expired policy documents at the central level and 173 expired policy documents at the local level in the established policy document database. Due to the small number of expired policies in the database, the expired policy texts were not analyzed.

2.2. Analysis of Temporal and Stage Characteristics

Based on China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy document database, the time of policy issuance and the number of policy issuances were used as the horizontal and vertical coordinates, respectively. China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies were divided into different stages according to the temporal characteristics and landmark historical events, followed by summarizing the characteristics of each stage.

2.3. Analysis of Policy Targets

A “policy target” refers to the purpose and meaning of the policy action that aims to address the main concerns of the policy [37]. Based on the phases of China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies, policy objectives at different phases were categorized and analyzed from four aspects: major air pollutants, improvement targets, key regions, and areas of prevention and control.

2.4. Analysis of Joint Policy-Issuing Networks

The term “joint policy-issuing” relationship among government departments denotes a situation where more than one policymaking department collaborates to issue the same policy [37]. The policy-issuing departments were identified from the policy documents, and the number of individual and joint policy issuances by each government department was organized. Citespace 6.1.6 software was used to conduct a visualization analysis of the joint policy-issuing relationships between government departments, in which the size of the circle represented the number of joint policies issued by the government departments, and the thickness of the line indicated the level of the joint policy-issuing relationship between government departments.

2.5. Analysis of High-Frequency Words

Based on the database of China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy documents, high-frequency words were analyzed using a combination of Python 3.9 and manual screening. In this study, the deactivated words with high repetition rate but low practical significance such as “by”, “promote”, “develop”, “investigate”, “all”, “very”, “immediately”, and others were removed according to the stop words list of the Harbin Institute of Technology. Furthermore, manual screening was conducted by comparing the content of policy documents.

2.6. Analysis of Policy Instruments

The scientific and rational utilization of policy instruments is conducive to enhancing policy implementation and providing the groundwork for achieving policy objectives. In this study, Rothwell’s classification method was adopted to study the usage of policy instruments, in which policy instruments were divided into three types (as shown in Table S1): supply-type, environment-type, and demand-type policy instruments [38,39]. Time and policy instruments were employed as the X and Y dimensions, respectively, to construct a two-dimensional analytical framework of “time–change–policy instruments”.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Analysis of Temporal and Stage Characteristics of PM2.5 and O3 Pollution Control Policies in China

3.1.1. The Trend Analysis of the Number of Policy Documents

Figure 1 summarizes the number of policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control that have been issued in China since 1949. As shown in Figure 1, no relevant policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control were retrieved for the period 1949–1985. From 1986 to 2022, the number of policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control in China showed a wave-like upward trend, with a significant increase in the number of policy documents beginning in 2013. Specifically, the central government issued a total of 149 policies from 2013 to 2022, which was 2.2 times higher than the number of policies issued between 1986 and 2012. Local governments issued a total of 2283 policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control. The number of policies issued by local governments was 6.5 times higher than that of policies issued between 1986 and 2012.
The central government issued policies on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control, and then the local governments actively responded with relevant supporting policies and implementation plans, indicating that central policies served as strong drivers for the formulation and implementation of local policies. Taking the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan” issued by the State Council of China as an example, after the central government promulgated this policy, local governments in provinces such as Hubei and Gansu successively issued relevant policies on implementing this policy, which shows a significant “top-down” characteristic of China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies. In terms of issuance timing, Gansu Province formulated “The Opinions on Implementing the State Council’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan” on 30 September 2013, while Jiangsu Province issued “The Notice of the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province on Printing and Distributing the Implementation Plan of Jiangsu Province’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan” on 6 January 2014. Additionally, on 7 February 2014, Huai’an City in Jiangsu Province issued “The Notice of the People’s Government of Huai’an City on Printing and Distributing the Implementation Plan of Huai’an City’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan”. Overall, the policy publication times of local governments were later than those of the central government and varied greatly among different regions. Moreover, the lower the level of local government, the later the publication time of policy, demonstrating a characteristic of “cross-level response lags from top to bottom”.

3.1.2. Analysis of Stage Characteristics

Based on the number of policy documents issued in China (Figure 1) and specific historical events such as the severe atmospheric pollution incident in 2013 and landmark policy in 2021, China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies were divided into four stages: the budding period (1986–2005), the transitional period (2006–2012), the development period (2013–2020), and the comprehensive management period (2021–2022).
During the budding period, the number of policy documents in China was relatively limited. The annual and daily concentration values of total suspended particulate matter (TSP) and respirable particulate matter (PM10), as well as the hourly concentration values of O3, were incorporated in the monitoring system in the revised “Ambient Air Quality Standard” of 1996 (GB 3095-1996). Additionally, the revised “Ambient Air Quality Standard” of 2000 first introduced the grading standards for hourly concentration limits of O3. According to the “2003 China Environmental Status Report”, 54.4% of cities nationwide exceeded the secondary standards for TSP and PM10 concentrations in 2003, establishing them as the predominant pollutants affecting urban air quality during this stage.
During the transitional period, the focus of China’s air pollutants gradually shifted from TSP and PM10 to PM2.5. In 2006, PM2.5 was first included in the “Outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development”. Furthermore, comprehensive efforts were undertaken to establish a national monitoring system for PM2.5 and O3, which was explicitly proposed in the “Notice of the State Council on the Issuance of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Environmental Protection” in 2007. Notably, daily variations of PM2.5 and O3 concentrations were incorporated into the monitoring system, and the threshold grading standards for pollutant concentrations were further enhanced in the revised “Ambient Air Quality Standard” of 2012 (GB 3095-2012). With the continuous improvement of the monitoring system and the evaluation of grading standards, China’s attention to PM2.5 and O3 pollution has gradually increased during this period.
During the development period, there was a rapid increase in the number of policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control in China starting in 2013. The number of policy documents correlates directly with air quality, meaning that the worse the air quality, the greater the number of policy documents. In 2013, China experienced severe haze pollution incidents [40], prompting the State Council to announce the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan”. This plan explicitly enhanced research into the formation mechanisms, sources, migration patterns, and monitoring warnings of haze and O3, marking the initiation of a new phase aimed at controlling PM2.5 and O3 pollution and pursuing green development. In 2018, the State Council issued the “Three-Year Action Plan to Win the Blue Sky Defense Battle”, which further stipulated that the concentration of PM2.5 in cities failing to meet standards should decrease by more than 18% compared to 2015 levels. In 2020, the “Notice on Further Strengthening the Work of Responding to Heavy Pollution Weather” was issued, highlighting the need to address China’s O3 pollution problem through measures such as strengthening VOC source control and industrial exhaust gas treatment. During this stage, the number of policy documents noticeably increased, and the theoretical causes of PM2.5 and O3 pollution in terms of mechanisms, sources, and other aspects were researched and analyzed in order to control PM2.5 and O3 pollution at the source. Furthermore, domestic and international scholars have found that NOx and VOCs are common precursors of PM2.5 and O3, and extensive research has been conducted on PM2.5 and O3 coordinated control and their mechanisms [41,42,43], which provided theoretical foundations and scientific methods for implementing coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 compound pollution. However, China has yet to enact relevant policies for the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3.
During the comprehensive management period, the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution was formally proposed in China. The “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035”, released in March 2021, explicitly put forward the promotion of the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3, marking a new phase in the PM2.5 and O3 pollution control in China. In April of the same year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued “Notification on Conducting Tracking Research for Coordinated Prevention and Control of PM2.5 and O3 Pollution with a ‘One-City-One-Strategy’ Approach”, organizing leading units and expert teams to conduct on-site tracking research and provide technical guidance in cities, thereby establishing a scientific, precise, and efficient method and system for the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. This initiative explored a new path for the coordinated development of “government–industry–university–research” collaboration.
It is noteworthy that in September and October 2021, the “Opinions of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality in Full, Faithful, and Comprehensive Implementation of the New Development Philosophy” and the “Action Plan for Carbon Peaking Before 2030” were successively issued, which clarified the Chinese government’s goals and roadmap for carbon emission reduction and laid out strategic deployments for the “dual carbon” objectives. Table S2 shows the means and core areas for the prevention and control of “dual carbon”, PM2.5, and O3. In the context of “dual carbon”, by compressing coal consumption, promoting low-carbon and green modes of transport, optimizing industrial restructuring, and realizing low-carbon and green urban and rural construction, not only the carbon reduction target will be achieved, but the PM2.5 and O3 pollution emissions will also be effectively alleviated. Specific measures include reducing coal use, eliminating outdated vehicles, strengthening the governance of key industrial sectors, and dust control, as well as promoting ultra-low nitrogen emission renovation in the steel, cement, and coking industries. This model of collaborative governance is of great practical significance in the core regions of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and its surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Fen-Wei Plain, thus promoting the overall improvement of the ecological environment and sustainable development.
The control over PM2.5 and O3 emissions significantly contributes to the reduction of atmospheric pollutant emissions in China, which is of paramount importance for mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions and alleviating climate change [44]. This is because there is often a common source of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases—they may originate from the same emission sources such as industrial emissions and transportation [45]. By optimizing energy structures, enhancing energy efficiency, and promoting clean energy sources, it is possible to simultaneously reduce emissions of atmospheric pollutants like PM2.5 and O3, as well as other greenhouse gases. In turn, this contributes to the achievement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution into the “dual carbon” strategy. This enables the government to effectively control the emissions of atmospheric pollutants while reducing carbon emissions, thereby achieving dual benefits of environmental protection and climate action [46].

3.2. Analysis of Policy Targets over Time

Table 1 summarizes the main air pollutants, improvement targets, major areas, and control measures at the four aforementioned stages of China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution policies. As depicted in Table 1, TSP and PM10 were the primary pollutants affecting China’s air quality during the budding period. The relevant policies in this period focused on monitoring and controlling industrial emissions, presenting an extensive form of control.
During the transitional period, China placed increased emphasis on mitigating PM10 emissions, particularly in the industrial sector. This involved the implementation of a series of measures aimed at expediting the establishment of the air pollutant emission permit system, promoting environmentally sustainable dust removal technology, and advancing clean combustion practices. Additionally, efforts were intensified to control pollution in the automotive sector, including measures to augment tailpipe emission inspections and enhance fuel efficiency.
During the development period, PM10 and PM2.5 emerged as the two major air pollutants in China. Key control regions included urban clusters such as the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the Pearl River Delta region, with diverse areas focusing on industrial pollution control, transportation pollution control, energy structure adjustments, and regional joint prevention and control. Compared with the transitional period, efforts during this phase expanded from controlling vehicular pollution to addressing transportation pollution. Measures included promoting the use of vehicles meeting National IV and V emission standards and phasing out older vehicles. The optimization of transportation structures was pursued, with measures such as increasing railway and intermodal transport by 30% and 10%, respectively, by 2020 compared to the levels in 2017. Adjustments to the energy structure were also proposed, emphasizing the utilization of renewable energy and reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. The establishment of regional air pollution prevention and control leading groups in urban clusters such as the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region marked a new phase of regional joint prevention and control. In the industrial sector, measures were proposed to reduce excess capacity, eliminate outdated capacity, and control the growth of industries with high pollution and energy consumption.
The comprehensive management period focused on the coordinated control of the emissions of PM2.5 and O3 pollutants. Policy targets included a 10% reduction in PM2.5 concentration in prefecture-level cities while restraining the growth of O3. Although the areas of prevention and control remained similar to those in the development phase, control efforts were intensified. In the industrial sector, more emphasis was placed on source control, such as substituting raw materials and products containing VOCs. Further optimization of transportation structures was pursued, advocating for green and low-carbon travel modes, such as promoting new energy vehicles and “public-to-rail” or “public-to-water” transportation. In addition, the implementation of emission standards for National VI vehicles and non-road mobile machinery accelerated the phase-out of vehicles below National III standards. In the field of energy structure adjustment, measures were undertaken to continuously reduce coal consumption and promote the use of clean power (that is, solar, windy, or biomass resources) and natural gas. For example, the targets of reducing coal consumption by 10% in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and its surrounding areas and by 5% in the Yangtze River Delta region by 2025 have been set. Compared to the development period, prevention and control areas expanded to include the Fen-Wei Plain region and the Chengdu–Chongqing region. It is worth noting that during this stage, exploration of a new path for the coordinated development of “government–industry–university–research” collaboration was conducted, with increased participation from various stakeholders, including governments, enterprises, universities, and research institutes. Policies were oriented towards multidimensional, refined, and coordinated prevention and control, advancing towards comprehensive governance of PM2.5 and O3 pollution.
The study of each stage’s characteristics and improvement objectives suggests a transition from individual pollutant control, such as the control of PM, to the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3. This shift involves gradually expanding prevention and control areas and establishing a scientific, precise, and efficient system for the coordinated prevention and control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. It also explores new paths for the coordinated development of “government–industry–university–research” collaboration and implements measures such as the establishment of regional air pollution prevention and control leading groups to strengthen cross-regional joint prevention and control cooperation. This transition aims to move from extensive control to multidimensional, refined, and coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution.
For effective collaborative control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution, the continuous enhancement of technical measures is particularly crucial. Currently, implemented measures encompass the extensive application of high-efficiency dust collectors to curtail PM2.5 emissions from the industrial sector and the reduction of emissions from transportation sources by optimizing the energy mix and promoting clean energy vehicles [47]. Simultaneously, strict control of VOCs and NOx emission reduction strategies have been adopted to address O3 pollution [48]. Catalytic oxidation technology has been utilized to facilitate the conversion of VOCs into harmless substances, and the supervision of O3 precursors has been strengthened [49,50]. Nevertheless, due to the complex transformation mechanism and regional transmission characteristics of pollutants, scientific and technological innovation should be further intensified to develop more precise and efficient monitoring technologies, pollution source analysis methods, and regional joint prevention and control strategies, in order to achieve effective coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution and ensure the continuous improvement of air quality. Therefore, future targets for PM2.5 and O3 prevention and control should be continuously refined to continuously improve PM2.5 and O3 pollution.

3.3. Analysis of Policy-Issuing Network

Table S3 shows the main issuers of the central policy documents concerning PM2.5 and O3 pollutants control in China. Although the Ministry of Environmental Protection has gradually transformed into the Ministry of Ecology and Environment with changes in government departments, those two departments have both inherited certain functions and exhibit differences in their functional divisions. Therefore, the merger effect has not been considered. The Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a total of 58 policy documents (including 53 individually and 5 cooperatively), accounting for 27.75% of all central policy documents. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Development and Reform Commission ranked second and third, accounting for 16.27% and 13.4%, respectively. It can be inferred that the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment have served as the main departments for facilitating the implementation of PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policies and making important contributions to improving air quality. It should be noted that although departments such as the Ministry of Commerce, the National Energy Administration, and the Ministry of Public Security did not independently issue policy documents, they participated in the joint policy issuance.
Figure 2 illustrates the issuers of local policy documents. Provincial-level people’s governments predominantly issued local policy documents, except for Guizhou and Chongqing. Specifically, the provinces of Hainan, Tianjin, and Tibet had the highest number of policy documents issued by provincial-level people’s governments, while other provinces showed a higher number of policy documents issued by municipal-level people’s governments. In terms of spatial distribution in China, the eastern coastal provinces exhibited a higher number of policy documents compared to the western provinces. Among them, Jiangsu Province had the highest number of policy documents (170), followed by Guangdong Province (161) and Zhejiang Province (161). Among all provinces, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region issued 10 and 4 policy documents, respectively, representing the lowest numbers among all regions.
In order to analyze the joint policy issuance, the social network relationships among central and local government departments were studied, as shown in Figure 3. The highest number of jointly issued policy documents was by two departments, totaling 23, followed by 10 jointly issued policy documents by three departments, and 5 co-issued policy documents by ten departments, ranking third. The maximum number of cooperative issuing departments was 15. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance frequently collaborated with other agencies, indicating that these two departments promoted technological innovation, policy implementation, and funding allocation, thereby facilitating more efficient PM2.5 and O3 pollution control efforts and making significant contributions to air quality improvement. It is noteworthy that joint policy issuances between the central government and some local governments existed. For instance, the “2017 Air Pollution Prevention and Control Plan for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Surrounding Areas” was jointly issued by four central government departments and six local governments in February 2017, marking a significant transition towards cross-level intergovernmental cooperation in PM2.5 and O3 pollution control. As for local governments, joint policy issuance occurred in regions such as the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and Yangtze River Delta urban agglomerations, while the number of joint policy issuances among other local governments was extremely limited, indicating that urban agglomerations are conducive to enhancing the intergovernmental cooperation among local governments within urban agglomeration regions. Overall, the level of intergovernmental cooperation among local governments in China is relatively low.

3.4. High-Frequency Word Analysis

The top 10 high-frequency words in the central policy documents are listed in Table 2. Overall, the high-frequency words in the central policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control cover a wide range, indicating that a variety of measures have been adopted by the central government in order to control PM2.5 and O3 pollution. The most frequent word was “Technology”, which shows the central government’s emphasis on implementing PM2.5 and O3 pollution control measures from a technological perspective. “Monitoring” was the second most frequent word, highlighting the importance of obtaining PM2.5 and O3 concentration data through monitoring for quantitative analysis of air pollution conditions [51]. It is notable that “Enterprise” ranked seventh, indicating the central government’s high level of concern regarding the PM2.5 and O3 pollution caused by the production activities of enterprises, which has made enterprises a key focus of the central government. “Innovation” emerged as a significant word concerning PM2.5 and O3 control, indicating the role of innovation as a driving force in promoting PM2.5 and O3 pollution control [52].
Table 2 displays the top 10 high-frequency words in the local policy documents. “Enterprise”, “Monitoring”, and “Technology” were listed among the top 10 high-frequency words, although there were variations in their frequency rankings compared to the central policy documents. “Enterprise” ranked highest in frequency, indicating that local governments prioritized controlling PM2.5 and O3 pollution emissions from enterprises and striving to reduce pollutant emissions at the source. Words such as “Governance”, “Urban”, “Project”, and “Emergency” appeared in the top 10 high-frequency words in local governments’ policy documents. This suggests that local governments focus on pollution control at the city level, and the occurrences of severe PM2.5 and O3 heavy pollution events have become more frequent. The inclusion of “Emergency” indicated a significant increase in local responses to sudden PM2.5 and O3 pollution incidents. This highlights the urgent need to establish emergency systems for PM2.5 and O3 pollution and to continuously enhance the warning and emergency response capabilities for PM2.5 and O3 pollution incidents.
At the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2020, China officially proposed the “dual carbon” strategy. In response to global environmental change, China has set a ‘dual carbon’ target to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 [53]. Table 3 shows the high-frequency words in the central policy documents. Words such as “Manufacturing”, “Production”, “Equipment”, “Technology”, and “Green” had a higher frequency, indicating that the central government has emphasized the development of manufacturing and equipment construction, as well as the application and promotion of technology to promote synergistic and efficient green development for pollution and carbon reduction. For instance, by introducing low NOx combustion equipment, exhaust purification devices for diesel vehicles, and CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) technology, green and clean production can be promoted, supporting China’s air pollution prevention and control measures under the “dual carbon” goals. Additionally, the central policy documents also emphasized words such as “Materials”, “New Type”, “Energy”, and “Synergy”, highlighting the importance of generating and using environmentally friendly solvent materials and promoting the use of clean energy to advance atmospheric pollution control efforts [54].
High-frequency words in the local policy documents such as “Green”, “Development”, “Industry”, and “Energy” occupied significant positions, as shown in Table 3. Among these, “Green” and “Development” stood out as primary tasks for local governments, reflecting an emphasis on green development principles at the local level. Compared with the central government, local governments paid greater attention to energy and industrial structures, such as optimizing energy structures through the promotion of clean energy like wind power. In addition, “Low Carbon” and “Carbon Emissions” also had high frequency, indicating that local governments have made great efforts to the implementation of the national “dual carbon” strategy. Therefore, with the introduction of the “dual carbon” strategy goals, the coordinated enhancement of pollution reduction and carbon mitigation has become the focal point for the green transformation of China’s economic development.

3.5. Analysis of Policy Instruments

3.5.1. Policy Instruments across Time

Based on China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy documents, a two-dimensional analysis framework of “time–policy instruments” was constructed and illustrated in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 4a, there were 96 supply-type policy documents, comprising 45.93% of the total central policy documents, and 94 environmental policy documents, representing 44.98%, whereas demand-type policy documents numbered only 19, constituting 9.09%. Regarding local governments, supply-oriented policy instruments numbered 949 (accounting for 41.77% of the total policy instruments); environmental policy instruments amounted to 1290, representing 56.78%; and demand-oriented policy instruments numbered 33, constituting 1.45%. In terms of publication time, the number of supply-type and environmental-type policy instruments exhibited fluctuating upward trends, while the number of demand-type policy instruments displayed relatively minor changes, as illustrated in Figure 4b.
In general, supply-type and environmental-type policy instruments were the primary instruments used by the central and local governments for PM2.5 and O3 pollution control. The utilization of demand-type policy instruments was comparatively less frequent, and there was a notable absence of certain types. This is due to the nature of demand-oriented policy instruments, which involve relinquishing control and devolving authority to the market. However, in the process of PM2.5 and O3 pollution control, the cost of pollution control and economic benefits form an inseparable contradiction. Delegating authority to the market may lead to an increase in economic benefits and a reduction in pollution control costs, thus affecting the effectiveness of PM2.5 and O3 pollution control. Consequently, appropriate intervention by government departments is still necessary.

3.5.2. The Subtypes of Policy Instruments

Figure 5 depicts the subtypes of policy instruments for PM2.5 and O3 pollution control and their respective proportions. Among the 15 policy tool subtypes, both the central and local governments demonstrated a preference for public services (supply type), target planning (environment type), and service outsourcing (demand type). Among all subtypes of policy instruments, the central government predominantly used the public service tool and the science and technology information support tool, accounting for 64.3% and 29.6%, respectively, constituting the primary tools for PM2.5 and O3 pollution control. Conversely, the utilization rates of the policy tools in education and training (4.1%), science and technology infrastructure development (2.0%), and science and technology capital investment (0.0%) were relatively low. Local governments exhibited a higher percentage of usage of the public service tool (91.1%), followed by the science and technology information support tool (3.4%), whereas the education and training tool was the least utilized (0.9%). It is worth noting that, unlike the central government, local governments employed the science and technology funding tool (2.1%), although the utilization of the science and technology information support tool was comparatively lower than other tools.
Among the subtypes of environment-type policy instruments, both the central and local governments prioritized the use of target planning instruments, accounting for 52.1% and 92%, respectively. However, in terms of regulatory control instruments, the utilization rate was 43.7% for the central government, significantly higher than the 7.2% observed for local governments. In addition, both the central and local governments lacked the application of intellectual property protection, and the use of financial support (central 2.1%, local 0.7%) and tax incentives (central 2.1%, local 0.1%) was low, especially highlighting deficiencies in financial incentives and technology protection by local governments. It should be noted that the central government’s usage of public technology procurement (5.2%) exceeded that of local governments, which did not utilize such tools.
Within the demand-type policy instruments, both the central and local governments showed similar trends. Both rely mainly on service outsourcing instruments (central 47.4%, local 72.7%) and trade control instruments (central 47.4%, local 27.3%), with neither employing consumer subsidies nor overseas agency management tools, indicating shortcomings in incentivizing consumer participation and international cooperation management within demand-type policies. The usage of public technology procurement was higher in the central government (5.2%) than in local governments, which did not use such tools.

4. Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

4.1. Conclusions

The number of policy documents regarding PM2.5 and O3 pollution control in China has exhibited fluctuating growth, notably increasing after 2013. A “top-down cross-level response lag” was observed for controlling PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Since the introduction of the “dual carbon” strategy in 2020, documents related to “dual carbon” accounted for a relatively high percentage of both the central and local policy documents for PM2.5 and O3 pollution control. China’s PM2.5 and O3 pollution control policy can be divided into four phases: the budding period (1986–2005), the wandering period (2006–2012), the development period (2013–2020), and the comprehensive management period (2021–2022). The focus has gradually shifted from total suspended particles (TSP) to PM2.5 and O3, from the individual control of pollutants to the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution, and from extensive control measures to multidimensional, refined, joint prevention and collaborative control strategies.
The central policy documents were mainly issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, with frequent inter-departmental cooperation, focusing notably on “technology” and “monitoring”. Local policy documents, on the other hand, were mainly issued by various levels of people’s governments, placing greater emphasis on controlling pollution from “enterprise” and establishing the “emergency” systems for PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Intergovernmental cooperation in governance and collaboration among local governments are relatively limited and require strengthening. Supply-type and environmental-type policy instruments serve as the main tools for both the central and local governments to control PM2.5 and O3 pollution, while the utilization of demand-type policy instruments is still lacking.

4.2. Policy Recommendations

i
Deepen the synergy between pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction to achieve the objectives of the “dual carbon” strategy.
China has now entered a new stage with “carbon emission reduction” as a key strategic direction. Within the “dual carbon” strategy, a series of measures such as installing diesel exhaust purification devices on diesel vehicles; implementing carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology; and promoting the use of clean energy should be adopted to further optimize industrial and energy structures, and the green development should be advanced by enhancing the synergistic effects of pollution reduction and carbon reduction.
ii
Strengthen public participation and promote collaborative governance by diverse stakeholders.
China’s efforts in PM2.5 and O3 pollution control require the involvement of multiple stakeholders, such as the government, enterprises, social organizations, and the public. As the largest and most affected group, the public directly influences the effectiveness of pollution control measures and plays a crucial role as both stakeholders and supervisors. However, the central and local governments have overlooked public participation during the control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Therefore, it is imperative to enhance public environmental awareness and participation through various channels such as online campaigns and public hearings.
iii
Strengthen interregional intergovernmental cooperation to break down administrative barriers.
Further deepening the interaction between the central and local governments is crucial for shortening response times and unifying policy objectives. According to the distribution and geographical location of PM2.5 and O3 pollution in China, dividing prevention and control regions and strengthening collaborative policy issuance among local governments in those regions can create policy synergy, enhance coordination effects, and influence neighboring local governments.
iv
Reasonably adjusting the use of policy tools to form an effective combination of policy instruments is essential.
Firstly, the utilization of subtypes of policy instruments should be balanced. Supply-oriented policy instruments should appropriately reduce the use of public services and increase the usage of education and training and infrastructure. Secondly, improving policies such as tax incentives, financial support, and intellectual property protection to compensate for the imbalance of environment-oriented policy instruments. Thirdly, addressing the underutilization and absence of demand-oriented policy instruments by increasing their use and actively establishing exchanges and cooperation with foreign universities as well as enterprises to introduce advanced technologies and achievements, thereby making up for the lack of demand-type policy tools.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/su16156641/s1, Table S1: Policy instruments based on supply, environment and demand; Table S2: Prevention and control measures and core areas of “Double Carbon”, PM2.5 and O3 polices; Table S3: The main issuers of the central policy documents concerning PM2.5 and O3 pollutants control in China.

Author Contributions

Y.J.: writing—original draft, investigation, formal analysis. Y.G.: investigation. X.C.: formal analysis. N.P.: writing—review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition. C.Y.: methodology, supervision, funding acquisition. X.L.: writing—review and editing. Q.W.: project administration, funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by [the “One City One Strategy” research project for synergistic prevention and control of fine particulate matter and ozone pollution] grant numbers [DQGG202126, 2021-HXFW-HJ-0024], [the resource utilization of plastic waste and its path to pollution reduction and carbon reduction] grant number [662304439], and [the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities] grant number [S20230106].

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Figure 1. The number of policy documents issued by the central government (a) and local governments (b) of China.
Figure 1. The number of policy documents issued by the central government (a) and local governments (b) of China.
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Figure 2. Main issuers of local policy documents.
Figure 2. Main issuers of local policy documents.
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Figure 3. Map of the joint-policy network of government.
Figure 3. Map of the joint-policy network of government.
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Figure 4. (a) Two-dimensional analysis framework diagram of the central government’s “time–policy instrument” changes; (b) Two-dimensional analysis framework diagram of the local governments’ “time–policy instrument” changes.
Figure 4. (a) Two-dimensional analysis framework diagram of the central government’s “time–policy instrument” changes; (b) Two-dimensional analysis framework diagram of the local governments’ “time–policy instrument” changes.
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Figure 5. Percentage breakdown of the central and local policy instruments.
Figure 5. Percentage breakdown of the central and local policy instruments.
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Table 1. China’s major air pollutants, improvement targets, key regions, and control measures in different periods.
Table 1. China’s major air pollutants, improvement targets, key regions, and control measures in different periods.
PeriodThe Budding Period
(1986–2005)		The Transitional Period
(2006–2012)		The Development Period
(2013–2020)		The Comprehensive Management Period
(2021–2022)
Major air pollutantsTSP, PM10PM10PM10, PM2.5PM2.5 and O3 composite pollution
Improvement targetsFocus on controlling coal-fired boilers and industrial emissionsPM10 as a priority for urban air pollution control(a) In 2017, PM10 concentrations in cities at the prefecture level and above across the country decreased by more than 10% compared with 2012, and PM2.5 concentrations in regions such as Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta decreased by about 25%, 20%, and 15%, respectively.
(b) In 2020, PM2.5 concentrations in cities at the prefecture level and above that did not meet the standard decreased by more than 18% compared with 2015.		PM2.5 concentrations in cities at the prefecture level and above decreased by 10%, effectively curbing the trend of increasing O3 concentrations.
Key regions-Beijing, Tianjin, and 118 other citiesThe Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the Pearl River Delta regionThe Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and its neighboring regions, the Yangtze River Delta region, the Fen-Wei Plain region, the Pearl River Delta region, and the Chengdu–Chongqing region
Control measures(a) Coal-fired boilers
(b) industrial emissions		(a) Industrial pollution control
(b) motor vehicle control		(a) Industrial pollution control
(b) Transportation pollution control		(a) Energy structure adjustment
(b) Regional joint prevention and control
(c) Industrial pollution control
(d) Transportation pollution control
(e) Energy structure adjustment
Table 2. Top 10 high-frequency words in the central and local policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control.
Table 2. Top 10 high-frequency words in the central and local policy documents on PM2.5 and O3 pollution control.
NumberHigh-Frequency WordDocument NumberNumber of InstancesDocument FrequencyInstance Frequency
Central1Technologies161483576.67%67.02%
2Monitoring156394374.29%54.65%
3Environmental Protection164383178.10%53.10%
4National173372482.38%51.62%
5Pollution155363973.81%50.44%
6Systems140291766.67%40.43%
7Enterprises141288867.14%40.03%
8Equipment121286357.62%39.68%
9Ecology129248361.43%34.42%
10Innovation86243840.95%33.79%
Local1Enterprises202671,73288.74%71.31%
2Environmental Protection189570,32283.00%69.91%
3Pollution201867,99488.39%67.59%
4Monitoring208556,99791.33%56.66%
5Ecology177256,47677.62%56.14%
6Governance191637,21083.92%36.99%
7Urban201636,85188.30%36.63%
8Projects198534,85386.95%34.65%
9Technology186634,35481.73%34.15%
10Emergency179834,04378.76%33.84%
Table 3. Top 20 high-frequency words at the central and local levels under the “dual carbon” goal.
Table 3. Top 20 high-frequency words at the central and local levels under the “dual carbon” goal.
CentralLocal
High-Frequency WordNumberHigh-Frequency WordNumber
Manufacturing592Green13,474
Production541Development13,377
Equipment441Energy6212
Technology338Industry5072
Green190Ecological Environment4963
Materials170Low Carbon4642
New Type107Enterprises4547
Ecology107Energy Saving4270
Energy102Technology4036
Energy Saving99Carbon Emissions3838
Processes96Low Carbon3430
Industrial94Cleaner3321
Cleanliness83Buildings2961
Environmental80Emission Reduction2927
Comprehensive Utilization75Mechanisms2924
Synergy74Industrial2908
Green and Low Carbon62Production2838
Resource58Retrofitting2799
Environmental Protection52Pollution2755
Carbon Emission50Environmental Protection2474
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Jian, Y.; Gao, Y.; Cao, X.; Peng, N.; Yang, C.; Lun, X.; Wang, Q. Research on Evolution and Recommendations of China’s PM2.5 and O3 Pollution Control Policies under the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Targets. Sustainability 2024, 16, 6641. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156641

AMA Style

Jian Y, Gao Y, Cao X, Peng N, Yang C, Lun X, Wang Q. Research on Evolution and Recommendations of China’s PM2.5 and O3 Pollution Control Policies under the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Targets. Sustainability. 2024; 16(15):6641. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156641

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jian, Yuecheng, Yanshan Gao, Xinyu Cao, Nana Peng, Chao Yang, Xiaoxiu Lun, and Qiang Wang. 2024. "Research on Evolution and Recommendations of China’s PM2.5 and O3 Pollution Control Policies under the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Targets" Sustainability 16, no. 15: 6641. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156641

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