The turret of the Palace Museum in Beijing is seen in a clear day on Nov 22, 2017. [Photo/IC] BEIJING - After five years fighting air pollution, Beijing and neighbors are finally breathing noticeably cleaner air, with sales of anti-smog mask down markedly. The average density of PM2.5 in Beijing was 58 micrograms per cubic meter last year, meeting the target and 20.5 percent less than in 2016, Liu Baoxian, deputy director of Beijing environmental protection monitoring center, told a press conference. Densities of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and PM10 also dropped by 20 percent, 4.2 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively. The 226 good air days in 2017 were 28 more than in 2016, while the number of heavy pollution days fell from 39 to 23. An air pollution plan issued by the State Council in September 2013 ordered Beijing to reduce its PM 2.5 density from 90 in 2013 to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter by the end of last year. Among pollution controls were demolition of coal-fired boilers and the phasing out vehicles with high emissions, according to Li Xiang, of Beijing bureau of environmental protection. Li said small coal-fired boilers had almost vanished, replaced by gas or electricity, and all districts in the city proper had stopped coal use. Since 2013, Beijing has shut down six cement plants and closed or upgraded nearly 2,000 companies in printing, casting, furniture manufacture and other sectors, she said. silicone braceletsuv braceletcustom fidget spinnerslivestrong bracelet
Billionaire Li Ka-shing, chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd and Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong, March 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, 90, announced today he is retiring from his companies. Li said he will officially step down as the chairman of CK Hutchison and CK Asset later this year and will serve as a senior adviser. He will be succeeded by his elder son Victor Li Tzar Kuoi. The 89-year-old tycoon made the announcement at a press conference where his four listed companies, CK Hutchison, CK Asset Holdings Ltd., CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. and Power Assets Holdings Ltd., released their annual results. His net worth is $35.4 billion as of today, and is ranked 24th on the list of world's billionaires, according to forbes.com. Li is one of the richest and most influential tycoons in Asia, with interests in everything from ports and utilities to telecoms. His companies employ some 310,000 people in more than 50 nations. According to Forbes, his Li Ka Shing Foundation has donated more than $2.6 billion; over 80 percent has gone to Greater China. In 1950, after learning how to operate a plant, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company in HK with personal savings and funds borrowed from relatives. Li started out by supplying HK and the rest of the world with high-quality plastic flowers at low prices in the 1950s.
