In the first 11 months of 2020, the share of days with good air quality in 337 prefecture-level and above cities across China was 87.9 percent, an increase of 5.4 percentage points year-on-year, according to a report from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Friday.

Photo: Xinhua

The PM2.5 concentration in the same period was 31 micrograms per cubic meter, down by 8.8 percent, the report said.

Eighty-two percent of surface water in 1,940 sites monitored by the ministry was graded Class I to III (good quality) in the January-November period, a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percentage points, while that of Class V was 0.7 percent, decreased by 2.1 points year-on-year.

From January to November, the proportion of water bodies with good water quality (Class I to III) in China’s major rivers, including the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, was 85.7 percent, up by 5.2 percentage points year-on-year; 0.2 percent was graded Class V, a decrease of 2.3 points compared with last year.

From January to November, the proportion of days with good air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas accounted for 64.3 percent, a yearly rise of 11.4 percentage points. Particularly, in Beijing, the number was 73.1 percent, up by 8.7 points. Among 168 cities, the air quality of Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, and Tangshan was relatively poor. Haikou, Lhasa, and Zhoushan boasted good air quality.

(Translated by Liu Tongshan)