'Blue Beijing,' cleaner air, the new normal for Chinese people: state environment authorities

The sky above our heads is getting bluer, and the air we breathe cleaner, Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu said on Wednesday, announcing a well-rounded success in meeting all anti-pollution goals and binding targets for environment protection outlined in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

The proportion of days with good air quality in cities at prefecture-level and above across the country reached 87 percent in 2020, an increase of 5.8 percent from that in 2015. The figure is 2.5 percent higher than the target of the 13th Five-Year Plan, Huang said at a press conference.

Besides, average concentration of PM2.5 dropped to 37 micrograms per cubic meter in cities at prefecture-level and above, a plunge by 28.8 percent compared with that of 2015, surpassing the goal of the 13th Five-Year Plan by over 10 percent.

In terms of carbon emission goals, 2020's carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP reduced by 18.8 percent compared with that of 2015, and forest coverage rate nationwide reached 23.04 percent in 2020. The area of nature reserves accounts for nearly one fifth of the total land area in China, Huang introduced.

Water quality has also improved. The proportion of good surface water nationwide increased from 66 percent in 2015 to 83.4 percent in 2020, while that of unusable (below Class V) water decreased from almost 10 percent in 2015 to 0.6 percent.

Huang added that China's environment is seeing continued improvements in the first half of the year. Average PM2.5 concentration across the country is 34 micrograms per cubic meter, which has seen a 3 percent decrease from that of last year. Ozone concentration also dropped by 2.1 percent.

"The 'blue Beijing' has gradually become our new normal," Huang said. The number of days with heavy air pollution in the Chinese capital in 2020 was 10, while in 2015 it was 43, dropping by nearly 80 percent.

Among China's 337 cities, 202 met the air quality standard in 2020, accounting for 59.9 percent, 13.3 percent higher than the year before. The cities on average enjoy 87 percent of days with good air quality, which indicates their air quality index was lower than 100, according to the China Environment Report 2020 published by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in May.