Lawsuit over China's smog

A woman wears a mask to combat Bejing's smoggy streets. Photo / AP

Li Guixin says he hopes to provide a 'wake-up call' to country's people and leaders.

Aman from China's pollution-choked north has become the first person to attempt to sue the Government for failing to protect its citizens from the effects of toxic smog.

Li Guixin, from Shijiazhuang, the capital of heavily polluted Hebei province, is demanding 10,000 yuan ($1958) compensation plus the payment of all legal costs, according to a report in the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily newspaper.

Li, who claims he suffers from a bad cough, also called on the Government to provide free face masks and subsidise the price of air purifiers for homes.

Within hours of the report's publication, Xi Jinping, China's President, was photographed venturing on to Beijing's smoggy streets without any protection in what was interpreted as an attempt to play down the severity of the problem.

"Breathe the same air and share the same fate," the Beijing city government said on its official Weibo microblog.

Hundreds of millions of urban residents are regularly exposed to levels of pollution that would spell electoral disaster for governments in other parts of the world.

Li's decision to open legal proceedings follows a severe bout of pollution last December, when putrid smog forced schools and roads to shut, left planes unable to land at Chinese airports and saw officials order citizens to remain indoors.

Authorities had brought a 2002 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome under control "within months" because it was considered a "life or death" matter, Li argued. But pollution had not received the same level of attention.

"I want to make every citizen aware that we are the actual victims of the smog - not only is our health under threat but we are incurring financial losses which should be covered by the Government."

Li insisted that his attempt to sue the Government was about raising awareness, not money.

"Some experts have made it clear that air pollution will severely damage people's hearts and lungs, shortening their lives even. Therefore, we must hold environmental authorities to account. If our laws are enforced properly, the pollution problem can be solved."

This month one of China's leading lung experts told the Daily Telegraph that he had moved to a 37th-floor flat to escape Shanghai's polluted air.

Li said he hoped to provide a "wake-up call" to China's people and leaders, but Chinese courts would not necessarily accept his case, the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily reported.

A Peking University psychology student has attempted to raise awareness about pollution by placing surgical masks on statues of historical figures.

"We are worried about our living environment," Jiang Chao said. "We want to change the current situation."