BEIJING: Air pollution levels in 338 Chinese cities, including Beijing, have plummeted last year due to series of measures taken by the government to improve air quality, the government said today.
Tackling pollution has been listed as one of "the three tough battles" that China, the largest emitter, aims to win in the coming three years, according to the Central Economic Work Conference, an annual tone-setting economic meeting, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China has been battling severe air pollution for a long time and has taken several measures to combat it. It has four-tier pollution warning system, red is the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
The average density of Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 in 338 cities nationwide monitored by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) stood at 43 micrograms per cubic meter last year, falling 6.5 per cent year-on-year.
For the period, the level of PM10 in the cities declined to 75 micrograms per cubic meter, 5.1 per cent less than in 2016.
The density of PM2.5 in Beijing stood at 58 micrograms per cubic meter last year, a year-on-year drop by 20.5 per cent thanks to effective pollution controls, meeting the goal of reducing PM 2.5 level to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter, the ministry said.
Beijing suffered from chronic air pollution for years generated by automobile and industrial sectors.
An air pollution control plan issued by China's central government in 2013 ordered Beijing to reduce its PM2.5 density from 90 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter by the end of 2017.
Last year, average PM2.5 level in the Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei region was 64 micrograms per cubic meter, down 9.9 per cent on 2016, while that in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions were 44 micrograms per cubic meter and 34 micrograms per cubic meter, respectively.
Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province, though largely reducing PM2.5 density, saw its worst air quality throughout the year, while Haikou, capital of Hainan Province, topped Chinese cities with best air conditions.