Beijing enjoys best winter air quality in five years

Tian’anmen Square under the blue sky in Beijing on December 11, 2017 [Photo: VCG]

Beijing is enjoying its best winter air quality in five years, Beijing Youth Daily reported on January 4.

The yearly average concentrations of particulate matter with a length of 2.5 microns or less, known as PM2.5 and which damage the lungs when inhaled, dropped by 20.5% to 58 micrograms per cubic meter in 2017.

According to the local environment agency, the city has met the national standard of sulfur dioxide density. However, the concentrations of three other major pollutants: carbon dioxide, PM10, and PM2.5, are still out of limits. To improve Beijing’s air quality is still a long-term process.

The number of days during which the air quality was rated “excellent” or “good” was 226, up by 28 compared to 2016, while the number of days when the air was heavily polluted stood at 23, down by 16.

Over the last five years, the PM2.5 levels of each district in Beijing have experienced significant drops. Li Xiang, an official with Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said that Beijing will make more efforts to lower the PM2.5 concentration to 56 micrograms per cubic meter in 2020.