China recently announced that it is raising the bar for clean air in Beijing, even though the capital has successfully banished the air pollution it was notorious for. But those paying the price, at least partly, for Beijing’s clean skies, are its weakest citizens: villagers in the heavily industrialised adjoining province of Hebei.
For years, Hebei relied on coal for everything. Its villagers kept themselves warm in the harsh winters stretching from November to March, with temperatures going below zero, with coal stoves. The smoke generated from all this coal usage, however, blew into Beijing. In 2017, the government began to phase out coal, specifically banning domestic coal heaters, which were to be replaced by gas heaters.
However, the experiment had to be called off after a year. As ought to have been foreseen, the sweep of the directive proved unsustainable: demand for gas heaters far outstripped supply. Also, gas proved to be too expensive for the villagers, who survive on small land holdings and a monthly pension of 200 yuan per person.
However, the idea wasn’t abandoned. In 2020, it was taken up seriously. All coal stoves were confiscated from villages, coal trucks barred from entering villages; coal sellers had to switch to farming. Though coal continued to be sold in the black market, few villagers had the courage to use it with daily inspections going on. Those who did use coal, did so sparingly, in the heaters kept below their beds at night.
The switch worked wonders; air pollution came down significantly in Beijing and Hebei. The villagers were happy too. Gas heaters were installed at a subsidised cost and gas, too, was provided cheap though it still cost more than coal.
This ideal situation came to an end this winter. The villagers didn’t know it then, but the subsidies on gas were not meant to last forever. By 2023, they started being reduced. By December 2025, they were gone. The war in Ukraine didn’t help, reducing supplies of Russian gas. Private gas companies couldn’t afford to continue with the subsidy and provincial governments, whose finances were recovering slowly from the long Covid lockdowns, weren’t willing to help. Things came to such a pass that some gas companies preferred to supply gas only to commercial users.
The villagers’ condition was pitiable. With their coal heaters confiscated, and their gas bills up (an estimated 5,000 yuan for the entire winter), they had no other means of warming themselves except to cover themselves at night with as many blankets and jackets as they could and spend the days soaking in the sunlight. Their gas heaters were switched on for barely an hour before going to sleep, and then, at much lower temperatures than required, to consume as little gas as possible. The few who could, left their villages to spend the winter with their children in the cities, where, ironically, gas was cheaper.
This suffering was bound to erupt on social media. As is the norm, post after post was taken down by the censors. But such was the extent of the problem that even the State-run media had to report on it. The official news agency, Xinhua, felt compelled to say: "The path to clean heating must lead not only to blue skies but also to warmth in every household."
This was a signal. In the latter half of January, some gas companies reduced the price of gas by 0.2 yuan per cubic metre till the winter lasts. Some households even received a one-off heating subsidy of 200 yuan.
Sometimes, the most powerful communist party in the world does listen to its citizens.