War on pollution shows some improvement
Print Edition
Nearly 75 percent of China’s big cities failed to meet air quality standards in June, the environment ministry said yesterday.
However, this was an improvement over the same month last year, as the country continues to wage its “war on pollution.”
Nineteen cities met air quality standards every day, according to a Ministry of Environmental Protection statement, compared to just five in June 2014.
Seven of the top 10 cities with the worst air quality were in Hebei Province, which borders Beijing, and included Tangshan, Baoding and Shijiazhuang.
Cities outside Hebei on the top 10 worst list were Zhengzhou in central China’s Henan Province, Jinan in east China’s Shandong Province and Taiyuan in Shanxi Province in the north.
Air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in June was worse than in May, although it had improved year on year, the ministry said.
Polluted days accounted for more than half of the month in six cities in the region, including Beijing and Tianjin.
Air quality in the capital was subpar on almost 60 percent of the days in June and levels of PM2.5 — the tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs — rose 11 percent compared to the same period last year.
The monthly report, which reviews air quality in 74 cities, also named 10 cities with the best air quality. They included Haikou in south China’s Hainan Province, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province in the south and Kunming in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The Yangtze River Delta region also witnessed improved air quality in June compared to the same month last year, but the results were slightly worse than in May.
For the Pearl River Delta region, improved air quality was reported in June compared with both the previous month and the same period last year.
The two delta regions are economically-developed eastern and southern areas encompassing Shanghai and Guangzhou respectively.
Amid growing public disquiet about smog and other environmental risks, the central government said last year it would “declare war on pollution” and it has begun to eliminate substandard industrial capacity and reduce coal consumption.
Last year, nearly 90 percent of China’s 74 big cities failed to meet air quality standards.
The state standard is 35 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter, but the government does not expect to bring the national average to that before 2030.
In April, the environment ministry announced a two-year campaign to root out fake air quality data and accused some local governments of manipulating data.
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