One of the top issues on the agenda of the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is how to improve the air quality in the country. The record levels of pollution in Chinese cities last week and the World Health Organization's concern over the situation are a stark reminder of the high cost China has paid for economic development.

China, however, can have more blue-sky days by emulating London's battle against the Great Smog of 1952 and the more recent battles against new forms of pollution caused primarily by motor vehicles in which transport management and technology have played significant roles.

The Great Smog of December 1952 is the severest pollution event to have affected London. A period of cold weather, combined with an area of high pressure and windless conditions, created airborne pollutants mostly from burning coal (used both by factories and homes) to form a thick layer of smog over London between Dec 5 and 9. The smog, according to government medical reports, caused the premature death of about 4,000 people and left nearly 100,000 ill. Recent research, however, suggests that the actual number of fatalities was far greater at about 12,000.