BEIJING: The nation has seen improving air conditions as the number of smoggy days last year stood at 24. This was two days per month on average, 1.5 days fewer than the previous year, latest official data showed reported by China Daily on Tuesday.
Favorable meteorological factors and better vegetation contributed to the progress, according to the Atmospheric Environment Meteorological Bulletin issued by the China Meteorological Administration over the past weekend.
Compared with the year 2019, the average density of PM2.5 – atmospheric particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers – dropped by 8.3 percent last year to 33 micrograms per cubic meter.
The density of PM 10 dropped by 11.1 percent to 56 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the bulletin.
China saw an increasing number of smoggy days from the year 2000 to 2013. Since 2013, smoggy weather was on a continuous downward trend until 2017.
Between 2017 and 2020, the country roughly experienced five to seven times smoggy weather every year, and the situation varied based on meteorological conditions, the bulletin said.
Xue Jianjun, deputy director of the National Meteorological Center, told those at a news conference on Friday that generally speaking, last year’s meteorological conditions were in favor of clean air.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
