Chen Guangbiao, who made his fortune in the recycling sector and is a high-profile philanthropist, on Wednesday handed out cans of soda pop-air size, presumably from distant regions of pristine China like Xinjiang Northwest of Taiwan, southeast coast.
"I mean mayors, county chiefs and heads of major corporations: not only pursue GDP growth, not chase higher profits at the expense of our children and grandchildren and at the cost of sacrificing our ecological environment," said Chen.
China's air quality is watched closely because it fluctuates dramatically from day to day, but in recent weeks has recorded so far in unhealthy area.
Air pollution is measured in terms of PM2, .5 or particulate matter 2.5 microns in diameter, which are absorbed by the lungs and can cause lung diseases and heart. The World Health Organization recommends .5 levels of PM2 20 daily and says that levels above 300 are serious health hazards.
Beijing's air quality often surges over a 500 level and 12 January rose to 755, the highest in memory.
Go out, walk for about 20 minutes, and my throat hurts and I feel dizzy, Chen told Reuters in an interview on a busy Beijing sidewalk.
He handed out green and orange cans of "fresh air" with a caricature of himself on them saying, "Chen Guangbiao is a good man."
"Being a good person, have a good heart, doing good things," reads a message along the bottom of each can.
The 44 year old entrepreneur, whose wealth is estimated at $ 740 million according to Hurun rich list last year China's humanists, is an exuberant and relentless self promoter.
He is something of a celebrity in China, with more than 4 million followers on Sina Weibo, microblogging platform like Twitter more popular in China.
He admits that his effort to canned air is the tongue in cheek, but says it is a way to awaken people about the importance of environmental protection. The campaign is enticing bewilderment but also acclaim by the media and by people desperate to escape from the smog.
"Air in Beijing really needs to improve, then we need a good man like him to appear," said a resident surnamed Hu 21-year-old. "It reminds people to use less fuel and do what they can for the air of Beijing".
Air cans were free on Wednesdays, but usually sell for 5 yuan (80 cents) with proceeds going to poor regions of China and places of historical importance and revolutionary.
Sales, which had been moderate, are taken off after the recent streak of bad air days, with 8 million cans sold in the last 10 days, Chen said.
(Written by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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