北京方面欲保APEC会议期间蓝天
Beijng's air-quality index on Monday fell to some of its lowest levels all year -- in the single digits for two hours -- after rain swept away most of the city's air pollution. If the government had its way, the index, which averages about 174, would remain fixed at those famously low levels for the rest of the month.
在一场大雨冲走了绝大多数的北京空气污染物之后，这座城市的空气质量指数周一几乎达到全年最好水平──有两个小时该指数只有个位数（该指数越低表明空气质量越好）。如果政府举措得力的话，那么这一平均大约在174的指数在本月余下时间内有望保持在这样的极低水平上。The city plans to heavily reduce the use of government vehicles for two weeks while it hosts a meeting of senior officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic and Cooperation forum later this month, the Beijing News reported Tuesday.
《新京报》周二报道称，北京市计划在举办亚太经济合作组织(Asia-Pacific Economic and Cooperation, 简称APEC)高官会议的两周期间，大面积停驶公车。
Beijing will suspend bus services for government officials and reduce the use of government vehicles by 70% from Aug. 6-21, the newspaper said. The measures will help 'ensure good air quality and unimpeded traffic flow' during the APEC meeting, it said. Residents will also be encouraged to use public transportation as much as possible and to reduce their use of private cars, it said.
该报称，在8月6日至21日期间，北京全市各级党政机关和市属企业单位的机动车全天停驶70%。其表示，此举将有助于保障APEC会议期间空气质量良好和道路交通畅通。报道还称，北京市政府同时也号召市民，出行尽量乘坐公共交通工具，减少自驾车。
The forum will be attended by hundreds of delegates from 21 APEC member countries, while dozens of side meetings will also take place with more than 1,500 delegates in attendance.
来自21个APEC成员国的数百名代表将参加此次会议，而且逾1,500名代表还将出席数十个小组会议。It's unclear whether government vehicles have a huge negative impact on Beijing's air quality. Government-vehicle purchases in China comprise less than 5% of the country's overall annual passenger-car demand, according to an estimate from consultancy Automotive Foresight. Meanwhile, vehicle emissions contribute as much as 30% of the fine particulate matter known as PM2.5--which is considered particularly hazardous--in urban air.
目前尚不清楚政府公车是否对北京空气质量产生了非常严重的负面影响。根据咨询公司Automotive Foresight的估算，中国每年的公车购买量占全国乘用车总需求的比例不到5%。与此同时，大气细微颗粒物(PM2.5)中最多30%来自于汽车尾气，PM2.5被认为是城市空气污染中危害尤其大的污染物。Still, this wouldn't be the first time China made itself artificially pretty for visitors. The country managed to improve air quality by more than 45% compared with the annual average during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. During that period, the city enforced a much tougher measure that called for alternate driving days for cars with even- and odd-numbered license plates--and took almost two million cars off the road.
不过，这并非中国首次为了外宾而刻意装点粉饰门面了。2008年北京奥运会期间，政府成功地让空气质量比往年平均水平改善了45%以上。那段时期，北京强制推行了严苛得多的规定，要求车辆按车牌尾号单双数隔日限行，使得路上跑的汽车减少了将近200万辆。And with the exception of last year, the annual meeting of China's legislature in March--which lasts at least nine days--also ushers in a stretch of cleaner air, according to numbers crunched by China Real Time using data provided by the U.S. State Department.
去年的空气污染也有例外之时。“中国实时报”整合了美国国务院提供的数据后发现，3月份人民代表大会（持续了至少9天）期间，北京的空气质量出现好转。
