Under the State Council Action Plan for Air Pollution Control, Beijing should reduce the annual average fine particulate matter concentration to 60 micrograms per cubic meter by 2017.

As the official figure for 2015 was 80.6, a 6.2 percent drop from the previous year, reaching the 2017 goal is unlikely without a dramatic change.

Recent studies show motor vehicles are one of the main culprits for the city's air pollution, and the local authorities are reportedly pondering legislation aimed at reducing car use. Besides differentiated, higher parking fees, the probability seems high that all vehicles may be put off the road every other day throughout the heating season based on the last digit of their license plates.