2018年CRI Overall air quality in China improves in 2017: report（在线收听）

China has seen more cities meet required air quality standards over the last year, and is now planning even more measures to tackle air pollution and protect blue skies.

Li Ganjie, China's Minister of Ecology and Environment, says air quality improved in many regions across China in 2017.

He has made the comment while delivering an environmental report to the ongoing bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

"The air quality in heavily polluted areas continued to improve, although pollution in certain places remained severe. The density of PM 2.5 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and the Yangtze River Delta fell 9.9% and 4.3% respectively, while the figure in the Pearl River Delta was up to the national standard for three consecutive years,“ says Li.

Figures from the report showed that 338 cities at the prefecture-level or above in China saw 78% of days in 2017 with good air quality.

The concentration of major air pollutants, such as PM2.5, PM10 and sulfur dioxide, all came down last year, with 12 more cities reaching the national standard of acceptable air quality.

The average density of PM2.5 nationwide throughout the year dropped 6.5% year on year, while the density of PM10 was 5.1% lower.

However, the report also said that the number of good days with good quality in Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and Tianjin still fell short of 60% of the year.

The Fenhe River and Weihe River plains saw even fewer days with good air quality, requiring intensified efforts for pollution control.

According to Li Ganjie, the issue of expanding ozone density in the air has also emerged.

"Though the density of particulate matters goes down year by year, the overall ozone concentration rose up 8% year on year in 2017, with 28 major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and Fenhe River and Weihe River plains witnessing bigger margins of rise. This will be a key issue to address in the next step of our work," says Li.

At the session, several plans have been announced to tackle air pollution and make skies blue again.

"We will implement a three-year plan to achieve the goal of defending blue skies; we will issue action plans to fight against air pollution in key regions, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Fenhe River and Weihe River plains. We will also continue to limit coal consumption in key regions and cities and give more play to railways in cargo transport so as to better regulate vehicle emissions," says Li.

Efforts are also under way to build ecological and environmental protection law enforcement teams, as part of a greater plan released in March on deepening reform of Communist Party of China (CPC) and state institutions.