A lot of measures against air pollution were taken in Beijing and its surrounding areas during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation（APEC）meeting in 2014，leading to better air quality. The term “APEC Blue” coined by local residents has since become a political commitment of the Chinese leaders and hence is significant for action against air pollution in China. With the aforementioned measures，the emissions of various pollutants were reduced by 50% on average during the APEC meeting，and air quality was 61.6% better than usual，according to official assessment by the Beijing municipal government. “APEC Blue” has revealed that air pollution is preventable and controllable. Nonetheless，long-term air quality improvement cannot rely on short-term measures but requires long-term ones，especially a change in the pattern of economic growth and a powerful law enforcement. Action against air pollution comes at a cost，but a win-win situation of clean air with economic growth is achievable. For “APEC Blue” to become “Normal Blue” or “China Blue”，China needs to：improve legislation and enhance law enforcement；build a complete policy framework and management system；enhance scientific decision making process and local governments’ abilities to implement relevant decisions；make full use of market-based instruments；enhance environmental information disclosure and public engagement.