According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, 25 national pollutant emission (control) standards with special emission limits for air pollutants are planned to be issued, of which 18 have already been published, and the development and revision of the remaining standards are being accelerated, with the goal of completing all 25 emission standards by 2014.

　　According to the reporter from the "Daily Economic News", China's current air pollutant emission standard for the cement industry is the version revised in 2004, and the newly published revision is the third revision. The new standard expands the scope of application by adding bulk cement transfer stations to the original coverage of cement raw material mining, cement manufacturing, and cement product production, while adjusting the air pollutant emission limits and adding special emission limits for air pollutants applicable to key regions.

　　China is a major producer and consumer of cement, with cement output reaching 2.21 billion tons in 2012, accounting for 56% of the world's cement production. However, the pollution caused by the cement industry is very serious. According to statistics, the PM, SO2, and NOx emissions from China's cement industry account for 15%-20%, 3%-4%, and 8%-10% of the national total emissions, respectively, making it a key industry for pollution control.

　　Therefore, the newly published standards focus on tightening the emission control requirements for PM and NOx. New cement enterprises will be subject to the new standards from March 1, 2014, while existing enterprises will continue to follow the original standards until the transition period ends on July 1, 2015.

　　Pan Yuhong, a researcher in the environmental protection industry at China Investment Consulting, stated that the effective implementation of environmental indicators will promote the timely realization of industrial structural adjustment. As industry concentration increases, enterprises that meet environmental assessment standards and have advanced technical management are expected to regain vitality.

　　According to the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" issued by the State Council, new thermal power, steel, petrochemical, cement, non-ferrous, and chemical enterprises as well as coal-fired boiler projects in 47 cities within the "three regions and ten clusters" including Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei must also comply with the special emission limits for air pollutants.

　　A responsible person from the Department of Science, Technology and Standards of the Ministry of Environmental Protection recently stated publicly that, in accordance with the requirements of the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" and other documents, during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, special emission limits for air pollutants will be formulated for the "6+1" key industries (fields) including thermal power, steel, petrochemical, cement, non-ferrous, and chemical enterprises as well as coal-fired boiler projects, involving multiple national pollutant emission (control) standard development and revision projects.

　　The Ministry of Environmental Protection also revealed that the revision of the "Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Boilers" and the widely concerned "Pollution Control Standard for Domestic Waste Incineration" is being accelerated.