In 2021, Energy Foundation China supported the Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Science to research on how to strengthen the enforcement of Air Quality Attainment Plans in Chinese cities. Their findings were released in this report in September 2021.

This report first explains the process of making urban air quality attainment plans, then identifies the key reasons why only one fourth of the 150 unattained cities required to produce their plans had done so by 2020, including cities’ concern that these plans might complicate their economic efforts and vague legal requirements for the plans.

After analyzing these reasons and reviewing 55 existing air attainment plans at the local level, the report finds that only industry and energy structural changes can help bring clean air to many cities—an attainment pathway that will also lead to substantial carbon reductions and health benefits. The report also proposes policy recommendations on how to prod more cities into developing and implementing their attainment plans through more specific legal requirements in environmental and air laws, standardized planning process, stricter enforcement, and better coordination among plans for various sectors and cities.