China reports improved air, water quality in first three quarters of 2025

China's air and water quality continued to improve in the first three quarters of this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Wednesday.

For air quality, the average concentration of PM2.5-a key indicator of pollution-across 339 cities at or above prefecture level dropped to 26 micrograms per cubic meter in the first three quarters, a 5.1 percent decrease year on year.

Meanwhile, the proportion of days with good air quality in these cities during this period was 87.6 percent, up 1.8 percentage points from the same period last year.

As for water quality, 89 percent of the 3,641 national surface water assessment sections met the "fairly good" standard-Grade III or above in China's five-tier system-marking a 0.5 percentage point increase year on year.

China has steadfastly advanced its "Beautiful China" initiative, emphasizing ecological and environmental protection as a top priority in its social and economic development.

The U.S. dollar weakened in late trading on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, dropped 0.07 percent to 98.056 at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro added to 1.1800 U.S. dollars from 1.1795 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3572 dollars from 1.3568 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 159.03 Japanese yen, higher than 158.82 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.7819 Swiss francs from 0.7810 Swiss francs, and it was down to 1.3729 Canadian dollars from 1.3776 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar lost to 9.1580 Swedish kronor from 9.1810 Swedish kronor.