Beijing area has its lowest ever PM2.5 levels after air quality push

Levels of lung-damaging particles in and around the capital reach new low, although are still above the national target and WHO’s recommendation

Anti-pollution campaigns show progress, but the region’s emissions remain high, with industrial and energy reform ‘tough nuts to crack’, minister says

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Official air quality data showed progress for Beijing and neighbouring Hebei, although they had yet to reach the national target. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 7:00am, 19 Aug 2021

The Chinese capital Beijing and its neighbouring smog-prone province of Hebei have recorded their best monthly air quality since records began in 2013, as China vows to tackle pollution.

The monthly average concentration of small, lung-damaging particles known as PM2.5 stood at 16 micrograms per cubic metre in July, the lowest reading there since China’s records began, according to the latest statistics from the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau.

The capital’s average concentration of PM2.5 for the first half of the year was also its lowest on record, at 37mcg per cubic metre. That is still relatively high compared with the World Health Organization’s annual mean recommendation of 10mcg, but was close to China’s interim national standard of 35mcg.

Beijing also reported record low levels in July of other major pollutants, such as PM10, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, at 32, 2 and 14mcg per cubic metre respectively.

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“Average PM2.5 concentration dropped from 80mcg per cubic metre in 2015 to 38mcg last year,” Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told a press conference on Wednesday. “The city’s heavy pollution days have been reduced from 43 days in 2015 to 10 days last year.”