2014年CRI 美国务卿结束访华行程 烟花加剧北京雾霾（在线收听）

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Beijing on Saturday afternoon, ending a two-day visit to China.

During his stay in Beijing, Kerry met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi,

and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The two sides discussed bilateral ties and other issues of common concern.

This is his second visit to China and his fifth to Asia since he took office in February last year.

In addition to China and the Republic of Korea,

Ke在结束中国和韩国的访问行程后，rry's four-leg tour will take him to Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

Heavy smog persisted in Beijing on Saturday after a final round of holiday fireworks

revelry brought the air quality index (AQI) to 500, reaching Level 6, or severely polluted, on Friday evening.

The Lantern Festival, which marks the end to China's half-month-long lunar new year celebrations,

coincided with Valentine's Day on Friday.

The average AQI on Friday was 50 percent higher than that recorded on the Spring Festival eve,

which often sees the most fierce firework displays of the holiday season.

The highest PM 2.5 reading of 900 was recorded in Tongzhou District in eastern Beijing on Friday night.

Most Chinese metropolitan areas such as Beijing ban fireworks year round except for the 15 days from the Spring Festival eve to the Lantern Festival.

An official with the municipal Environment Monitoring Center says

smog has persisted in Beijing for nearly a week and it may start to disperse starting on Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Beijing on Saturday afternoon, ending a two-day visit to China.

During his stay in Beijing, Kerry met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The two sides discussed bilateral ties and other issues of common concern.

This is his second visit to China and his fifth to Asia since he took office in February last year. In addition to China and the Republic of Korea, Kerry's four-leg tour will take him to Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

Heavy smog persisted in Beijing on Saturday after a final round of holiday fireworks revelry brought the air quality index (AQI) to 500, reaching Level 6, or severely polluted, on Friday evening.

The Lantern Festival, which marks the end to China's half-month-long lunar new year celebrations, coincided with Valentine's Day on Friday.

The average AQI on Friday was 50 percent higher than that recorded on the Spring Festival eve, which often sees the most fierce firework displays of the holiday season. The highest PM 2.5 reading of 900 was recorded in Tongzhou District in eastern Beijing on Friday night.

Most Chinese metropolitan areas such as Beijing ban fireworks year round except for the 15 days from the Spring Festival eve to the Lantern Festival.

An official with the municipal Environment Monitoring Center says smog has persisted in Beijing for nearly a week and it may start to disperse starting on Sunday.