China has made significant improvement to its air quality in the past five years thanks to continuous government efforts, but air pollution remains an issue because of high emissions, the head of the country's top environmental watchdog said recently.
Li Ganjie, minister of ecology and environment, made the comments at a news conference held on September 29 to mark the PRC's 70th anniversary.
The 74 major Chinese cities that turned to the new air-monitoring standard in 2013, for example, saw their average concentration of PM 2.5 particulate matter drop by 41.7% over the past six years, Li said, adding that Beijing experienced an even bigger drop of 43%.
He also said the average density of sulfur dioxide in cities above prefecture-level across the country declined from 35 to 14 micrograms per cubic meter last year, down by 60%.
The decrease is remarkable compared with many other countries, Li noted.
In addition to establishing a regional coordination mechanism for air pollution control, the achievement is also a result of government efforts transforming the structures of industry, transport, energy and land use, he said.
China has managed to achieve extra-low emissions for 80% of coal-fired power, data showed.
Air quality in the country, however, is still sensitive to the change of meteorological conditions for pollutant dispersal because emissions remain high at present.
Meteorological conditions can generally exert an influence of 10% to air quality if pollutant discharge remains unchanged, Li stated.
(Writing by Tian Zhang Editing by Harry Huo)
For any questions, please contact us by inquiry@fwenergy.com or +86-351-7219322.