Chinese cities report improving air quality in first two months

Air quality in Chinese cities improved in the first two months of the year, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).

For 339 cities monitored by the ministry, the share of good air quality days stood at 81.9 percent in the Jan.-Feb. period, up 1.5 percentage points year on year, MEE data showed.

The average PM2.5 density, a key indicator of air pollution, dropped by 2.1 percent year on year to 47 micrograms per cubic meter, and the average density of PM10 shrank 15.4 percent year on year to 66 micrograms per cubic meter.

In February alone, the share of good air quality days in these 339 cities hit 91.3 percent, rising 4.5 percentage points over one year earlier.

During the same period, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the neighboring area saw their share of good air quality days increase by 16.4 percentage points to 85.7 percent. The share of good air quality days in Beijing reached 100 percent.