Smoke is discharged from chimneys at a coal-fired power plant of China Guodian Corporation in Datong city, north China's Shanxi province, 17 March 2018. In a dramatic televised announcement, the Chinese government declared it was waging a "war on pollution". That was in 2014. Four years later, the numbers are in: China is winning. It means big things for its people: if these reductions in pollution are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will add almost 2.5 years to their life expectancy. The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) analyzed daily data from over 200 monitors across China from 2013-2017. The country's most populated cities have cut concentrations of fine particulates in the air by an average of 32 percent in just four years – most are meeting or exceeding goals outlined in their 2013 Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, a $270-billion initiative with plans to reduce particulate air matter in the most densely-populated cities. An additional $120 billion was set aside to fight pollution in Beijing. The country pledged to meet reduction goals by reducing the nation's dependency on coal, controlling vehicle emissions, increasing renewable energy generation, and better enforcing emissions standards. The government also increased its transparency in sharing information with the public.