China Focus: Firework bans across China curb smog during Spring Festival

Less fireworks were set off across China in the Lunar New Year, banned in many places, over air pollution concerns.

Two thirds of people polled in 35 major Chinese cities last year by the center for public opinion research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University were in favor of fireworks bans at Spring Festival.

Public concern over air quality means people routinely check air quality and wear masks; many own air purifiers. Air quality only improved marginally last year in the area around Beijing, data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection suggests. In Shanghai, fireworks are banned completely downtown, and firework purchases require real name registration to track violators.

A total of 138 cities in China have banned fireworks while another 536 cities have curbs in place, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The bans have made sanitation workers' life easier. They cleaned up 80 percent less firework waste in Shanghai this year.

In nearby Hangzhou, host city of this year's G20 summit, fireworks have been banned for the whole year and police have offered rewards for reporting any sales, storage, transportation or lighting of fireworks.

Still, there are people concerned that the ban kills off a harmless tradition. While fireworks may add to air pollution, some are calling firework makers to develop more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Panda Fireworks, one of the country's biggest firework makers, said its traditional business has been hit badly by the ever expanding ban.

The company said in June last year that it had began operating a P2P lending platform as part of a transition plan to reduce reliance on its firework manufacturing business.

Panda fireworks told Xinhua that it is developing fireworks that produce less smoke and sulphur to reduce the environmental impact. Some new products went on the market this year and were well received.

Lin Qiang, a business man in the eastern city of Wenzhou, said his firework budget for the Spring Festival this year shrank from over 3,000 yuan of stunning fireworks to just 100 yuan of firecrackers for his kids.

"I'm thinking more about the environment and safety this year," he said. Endi