The National “Two Sessions” of the Chinese Communist Party in 2026 will be held in Beijing starting on March 4. In order to ensure “blue skies” during the Two Sessions, several steel plants in North China have recently received notices requiring them to reduce production by at least 30% during the meetings.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of steel, with construction activities picking up as the weather warms up in March each year, leading to an increase in steel demand. However, the Two Sessions of the CCP are scheduled for early March, and in order to guarantee clear skies in Beijing during the meetings, it has been customary for authorities to demand temporary closure or production cuts at surrounding factories.
On February 25, the steel industry consulting firm Mysteel released a report stating that several steel plants in North China have recently received notices to implement production restrictions, requiring a reduction of at least 30% in blast furnace output from March 4 to 11.
Despite the officials sparing no effort to ensure the “blue skies” for the Two Sessions at the expense of business profits, it seems that their wishes have not been fulfilled.
According to public reports, the CCP’s Two Sessions in 2025 ended amidst a sandstorm. During the 2024 Two Sessions, there were localized sand or dust weather in Beijing. In 2023, Beijing experienced severe haze for several consecutive days during the Two Sessions.
On February 21 this year, Beijing just experienced a severe sandstorm weather, with the air quality index reaching level 5, classified as heavy pollution in multiple areas, causing even the Forbidden City to turn yellow. There was even a rare phenomenon of a “blue sun” appearing in the sky over Beijing.
Many local netizens took to social media platform expressing their astonishment, “I’ve been in Beijing for over ten years, and this year’s sandstorm is the wildest I’ve ever seen,” “The whole sky is nothing but yellow,” “It’s like the end of the world.”
Some netizens questioned, “In the past two years, when cold air came, there was a layer of dust on the cars. Wasn’t it said that the deserts were turning green, so why is this happening?” Others sarcastically commented, “Yellow lanterns, not just for decoration, but also catching the wind,” “Finally reached the dirtiest place.”