MEP released to the news press the air quality status of domestic cities and cities seated in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Yangtze River delta, Pearl River delta, as well as municipalities directly under the Central Government, provincial capital cities, and cities separately listed in State plans between Jan. and Oct. and in Oct..
According to Luo Yi, Director General of the Ministry’s Department of Environmental Monitoring, the percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 81.4 per cent among the 338 cities at or above the prefectural level between Jan. and Oct., up 3.6 percentage points year on year. The mean PM2.5 reading registered 42 μg/m3, down 12.5 per cent. The data for PM10 was 77 μg/m3, down 9.4 per cent. The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 91.3 per cent among those cities in October, up 12.9 percentage points year on year. The mean monthly PM2.5 reading registered 37 μg/m3, down 24.5 per cent from the same month last year. The data for PM10 was 66 μg/m3, down 24.1 per cent.
Measured by the urban AQI readings, the top 10 cities recorded with fairly poor air quality (ranking from the 74th to the 65th) were Xingtai, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Jinan, Handan, Zhengzhou, Hengshui, Urumqi, and Xi’an between Jan. and Oct.; and Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, Tangshan, Baoding, Taiyuan, Handan, Hengshui, Cangzhou, Jinan, and Beijing in Oct..
The top 10 cities recorded with fairly good air quality (ranking from the 1st to the 10th) were Haikou, Zhoushan, Huizhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Zhuhai, Lishui, Shenzhen, Lhasa, and Zhongshan between Jan. and Oct.; and Zhoushan, Fuzhou, Haikou, Huizhou, Taizhou, Xiamen, Yancheng, Lishui, Nantong, and Shenzhen in Oct..
The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 61.2 per cent among the 13 cities located in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area between Jan. and Oct., up 6.9 percentage points from the same period last year. The mean PM2.5 reading posted 59 μg/m3, down 14.5 per cent. The data for PM10 was 104 μg/m3, down 16.1 per cent. The data for O3 registered 179 μg/m3, up 5.9 percentage points. The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 64.1 per cent in Oct., down 6.8 percentage points from the same month last year. The mean monthly PM2.5 reading posted 68 μg/m3, up 13.3 per cent. The data for PM10 was 115 μg/m3, up 0.9 per cent. The nonattainment rate of O3 registered 3.0 percent, down 2.8 percentage points.
The percentage of the days with records of clean air and fairly clean air registered 56.0 per cent in Beijing between Jan. and Oct., up 3.0 percentage points compared with the same period last year. The mean PM2.5 reading was 64 μg/m3, down 8.6 per cent. The data for PM10 was 81 μg/m3, down 12.9 per cent. The data for O3 registered 209 μg/m3, levelling off. The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 54.8 per cent in Oct., down 19.4 percentage points from the same month last year. The mean monthly PM2.5 reading posted 84 μg/m3, up 13.5 per cent. The data for O3 went down 6.5 percentage points and attained the emission standard.
The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 77.0 per cent among the 25 cities located in Yangtze River delta between Jan. and Oct., up 4.0 percentage points year on year. The mean PM2.5 reading posted 43 μg/m3, down 14.0 percent. The data for PM10 was 72 μg/m3, down 10.0 percent. The data for O3 registered 166 μg/m3, down 1.2 percentage points. The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 99.3 per cent in Oct., up 23.4 percentage points from the same month last year. The mean monthly PM2.5 and PM10 reading posted 28 μg/m3 and 48 μg/m3, down 46.2 per cent and 45.5 per cent respectively. The O3 nonattainment rate registered 0.1 per cent, down 15.3 percentage points.
The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 90.7 per cent among the 9 cities located in Pearl River delta between Jan. and Oct., up 2.8 percentage points year on year. The mean PM2.5 reading posted 29 μg/m3, down 14.7 per cent. The data for PM10 was 45 μg/m3, down 13.5 per cent. The mean monthly readings of both PM2.5 and PM10 attained the national Grade Ⅱ standard for mean annual concentrations. The data for O3 registered 154 μg/m3, up 3.4 percent. The percentage of the days recorded with clean or fairly clean air averaged out at 95.7 per cent in Oct., up 14.4 percentage points from the same month last year. The mean monthly PM2.5 reading posted 30 μg/m3, down 30.2 per cent. The data for PM10 was 45 μg/m3, down 30.8 per cent. The nonattainment rate for O3 registered 4.3 percentage points, down 10.4 percentage points.
Luo Yi said the PM level had been in a downward trend on a national scale and in key regions since the beginning of this year, and the air quality had been improved in general. However, the PM level rose up in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area in October. The experts analyzed and attributed the main causes to the three heavy air pollution spells in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area that were unfavorable for pollution diffusion and led to rising PM level in the area. The PM level reached the highest in Beijing during the heavy air pollution spell between Oct. 13 and Oct. 15, which significantly affected the mean monthly PM2.5 reading.
