ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab will develop an advanced air quality management system with the help of China to combat an enduring smog and pollution crisis, a statement from the provincial chief minister’s office said on Wednesday. 

Smog had choked Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province for weeks last month, sickening nearly two million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze. 

On Wednesday, Lahore, the capital of Punjab, was listed as the world’s sixth most polluted city by Swiss air monitor IQAir, and its PM2.5 concentration, which comprises air particles that damage lungs, was 20.5 times the World Health Organization annual guideline value. The province had closed down schools and offices for days last month, banned outdoor activities and shortened timings for restaurants, shops and markets in a bid to control smog.

“Agreement reached to develop an advanced air quality management system in Punjab with China’s collaboration,” the ruling PML-N party in Punjab said in an X post after Sharif met Chinese environment authorities. “Decision to establish the ‘Beijing-Punjab Clean Air Joint Working Group’ has been made.”

The officials also discussed wildlife conservation and plantation projects, with Sharif saying Punjab would leverage China’s expertise and experience in implementing an e-transport system in the province.

China has taken significant steps to combat its worsening air quality, declaring a “war on pollution” in 2015. Key measures include reducing coal consumption, increasing renewable energy capacity, and improving air quality monitoring systems. 

However, researchers said last month China’s emissions of carbon dioxide were on course to rise slightly this year, despite rapid progress on renewables and electric vehicles, putting a key 2025 climate target further out of reach.

China wants to cut the amount of CO2 it produces per unit of economic growth by 18 percent over the 2021-2025 period, but it fell further behind this year as a result of rising energy demand, said the Helsinki-based Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in its annual assessment.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Wednesday it had held a joint war exercise with China from Nov. 19 to Dec. 11 amid a push for deeper security ties between Islamabad and Beijing. 

Following a string of deadly attacks that targeted its citizens in recent months, China has pushed to join Pakistani security efforts to protect them, and last month unveiled a plan for joint counter-terrorism exercises in Pakistan.

The exercise, which both the sides called Warrior-VIII between the Pakistan Army and Peoples’ Liberation Army of China, was launched at a northwestern Pakistani counter-terrorism facility, a Pakistani army statement said last month, adding that the exercise was aimed at “refining professional skills through joint training, besides harnessing (our) historic military-to-military relations.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, Pakistan said the exercise concluded today, Wednesday. 

“Pak-China Joint Exercise Warrior-VIII between Pakistan Army and Peoples Liberation Army of China was conducted from 19 November to 11 December 2024,” the army’s media wing said. 

“Three weeks’ long Exercise in Counter Terrorism domain is 8th in the series of bilateral exercises being held annually.”

Attacks on Chinese nationals have put the bilateral relations between both states under increasing stress, with Chinese officials breaking from diplomatic norms in recent months and publicly calling on Islamabad to provide better security. 

Media reports in recent weeks have also widely speculated that Beijing has said it will not continue with projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment in President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, unless Pakistan can guarantee security.